


Heated Betrayal

by KijZar



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Heartbreak, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-07-31 12:40:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 34,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20115250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KijZar/pseuds/KijZar
Summary: When the Inu brothers go into heat, Kagome is caught in the cross hairs. Inuyasha tries the unthinkable and sends Kagome directly into Sesshomaru's arms. An unknown enemy has his sights on Kagome, threatening the gentle balance of the relations between demons and humans. AU, Sesshomaru is OOC as well as Inuyasha. This is LEMON. For MATURE ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. Has been posted to dokuga and FF.





	1. Chapter 1: Unwanted Advance

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA! THIS STORY IS FOR MATURE ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY!   
Also, sorry for the POV swapping for the next few chapters until I got my life together and just did 3rd person. Try to get around it, I know it makes it difficult to read properly.  
....

I'd been following her for months. I knew she was dating my hanyou half brother, but something about her was getting to me. Summer was coming and the heat would be upon us soon, as well as the full moon. The full moon falling on the in-heat period of time was a horrendous mixture. I already have to reign in my control during the full moon, and when I'm in heat, but having them together would be disastrous. I knew I'd have to get far away from her on the night of the full moon, but that was in two days. For now, I could keep tailing her. Her sweet scent was tantalizing and it made her easy to follow. The sky was threatening rain, and following her would be far more difficult if I couldn't scent her out, but if I stuck close enough, I could keep on the trail.

Tonight she was having a date with Inuyasha, my half brother. They were in a pho restaurant across from the cafe I was hiding in. Being reduced to following a woman, a human woman at that, was getting on my nerves. I'm a lord, and having to do anything like this made me furious. My instincts had full control of me, though, and it was all I could do to maintain my restraint and keep myself from taking her right there on the sidewalk. I wasn't a heathen and I wasn't a rapist. If I wanted a woman, I could damn well charm any female that walked past me on the street, and if they didn't want me, well there was no accounting for taste. No use crying over spilt milk.

So, agitated and horny, I sat there watching the two until they exited the restaurant. I sat in the cafe sipping a green tea that was tolerable, but not great by any means. There were people milling around on the streets, strolling hand in hand. It was Friday and apparently people were out having dates. The idea had been foreign to me, wanting to spend time with one particular woman for an extended period, but meeting Kagome had made me think about the concept more often the I'd like to admit. After nearly 90 minutes, they left hand in hand and walked down the sidewalk, headed god knows where. I watched them and followed a few dozen feet behind them, cloaking my aura as I went. It would do no good to have them sense me and question me about my activities. They turned down a different street as the sky opened up above me, dumping rain down to the earth. I grumbled a bit, and noticed that the moon was nearly full and could be seen through the clouds. As I noticed the moon, I heard a feral growl and a startled yelp. I lowered my head and looked to where they had just been standing. They were gone and I felt an angry aura well up, mixed with a pure one that felt frantic. I sped around the corner and followed the auras into an alley. What I saw made my eyes bleed red and made me want to slaughter something.

Kagome was lying on the ground sobbing, with claw marks on her arms that were bleeding profusely and her dress was torn into pieces and was barely hanging from her frame. Inuyasha's eyes were bleeding red and the ragged stripes were present on his cheeks. He was on top of Kagome, pawing at her while she attempted to get away from him. She was shouting 'no' at him over and over again but he wasn't listening. He reached for her underwear and ripped them off in one pull. She fought harder still and he reached for his belt and something inside me snapped.

I ran up to them and snatched the back of his jacket and wrenched him off her. I threw him across the alley and into a wall. Kagome stayed on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, while I stalked over to Inuyasha and began beating him to a pulp. My control slipped and I found myself driving my fists into his face and abdomen over and over again. He growled and whimpered every time my fists connected with his body. When he wasn't whimpering like a beaten dog, he was snarling at me, curses spilling from his mouth left and right. He fought back as well as he could but he wasn't in complete control of his faculties. When he finally passed out, my sanity reappeared and I made myself stop pummeling him. Rage still seeped from my every pore and I wanted to rip his testicles off of his body and shove them down his throat. Taking a calming breath, I pulled out my phone and dialed our father.

"Toga here."

"It happened again. This time he attacked his own girlfriend. She's a mess, I'm going to take care of her. Send someone to handle him. If I handle it, I'll kill him." My voice was ice, giving the illusion that I was cool, calm, and collected. I could hear a tinge of raw anger in it, and hoped that my father didn't hear the extent of my emotions, he'd likely attribute it to me having feelings for the girl, or some such nonsense like that.

I hung up without an answer, and I purposely didn't give him the address. Inuyasha could stay passed out on the ground in the rain for days for all I gave a fuck. Taking another deep breath, I softened my features, turned to Kagome and approached her slowly. She was still hysterical and I didn't want to cause her more fear. She was sitting on the concrete with her arms covering her chest, sobbing quietly and running her hands over her arms continuously. I pulled off my jacket and walked toward her very slowly. I knelt down by her side and brought my hand to her shoulder. She flinched at the contact and looked up into my face.

"It's me, Kagome. It's Sesshomaru. He's out, Kagome. He can't hurt you anymore. Let me help you."

She was still crying softly but she nodded at me. The fear that had been dominant in her eyes eased away and what seemed like trust replaced it. I had expected her to become void and emotionless in the face of what had happened to her. I'd heard of many assault victims who became detached and depressed and the thought of her becoming that way, because of the filthy half breed, made me angry, more angry then I liked to admit. Shaking those thoughts off, I turned back to her to give her my full attention.

"I'm going to pick you up, okay Kagome?"

She nodded again but still flinched when I put my arms around her shoulders. Hoisting her into my arms, I settled her against my chest and covered her with my jacket. She turned her face into my chest and let out a few more sobs, then fell oddly silent. She was asleep. I made my way through the back alleys and toward my apartment. On the way her grip around my neck tightened and she nuzzled into my chest. It made fire scorch through me. Making my way into the building, I headed toward my apartment. It was really more of a condo, large and spacious and I was thrilled to be out of the damn rain. At this rate, she'd be traumatized psychologically and she'd catch a nasty cold. Heading straight toward the elevator, I ignored the clerks inquisitive stares. Hitting the button for the top floor, I gazed on her sleeping face. Dried tears still covered her face and the scent of salt was in my nose. I was still in a rage about what he'd done to her, but it was hard for me to feel anything but calm while she was so near. Her face was mostly peaceful except for an angry V in her brow and a slight frown pulling at her plump, pink lips.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened and I strode down the hallway to the door to my condo. Opening the door, I made my way through the hallways and into my room. Settling her onto the bed, she rolled to her side, but didn't wake. The second she was out of my arms, I felt her absence like a blizzard overtaking me. I shook my head to clear those thoughts and went to the closet and rummaged around until I found a long t-shirt. Returning to her, I set my hand on her shoulder and sent a small pulse of my yoki at her. Not enough to hurt, but enough so she'd wake. Her eyes fluttered, filled with confusion and then when they focused on me they filled with tears again.

"Here, put this on." I handed her the shirt and turned around to give her some privacy. I could hear the ruffling of clothes and her sniffing gently.

"You're good now." Her voice sounded raw and was thick with emotion.

Moving over to the bed, I sat next to her and took her appearance in. She looked devastatingly beautiful with mussed hair in my oversized clothing. It sent a wave of pride through me, seeing her in my clothes. I tried to refocus and stop gaping at her body. I looked into her tear filled eyes, "Are you okay?"

The tears fell faster down her face and she threw her arms around my neck, pulling me into a tight hug. I stiffened, surprised at the physical contact, then let my arms go around her and I pulled her slowly into my lap. My arms had a mind of their own apparently, I hadn't made the conscious decision to pull her into my lap, but there she was.

"No, I'm not okay. What happened to him? Why did he… he..", she broke into sobs again and I lifted a hand to her hair to soothe her. I'd seen my father do it countless times to sobbing women, so I assumed it would help to calm her.

"He's in heat. Most of the demons are in heat during this time of year. He doesn't have as much control over himself as a full demon. His half demon blood is raging through him, burning extremely hot and devouring his human blood, and thus his control. He has only gone into heat a few times before, but every time it has ended disastrously. He nearly killed a female servant and our father had to beat him half to death before he passed out. Sometimes he can get through heat without an incident but I didn't trust him with you, so I was following you."

She seemed distraught at the thought that he'd done this more then once. The explanation of my presence, however, was a clever half truth. It explained my presence without me having to admit I was nearly obsessed with the little woman. I never lie outright, but telling half truths had become an excellent talent of mine. She nodded, still sobbing into my chest, and looked up into my eyes. Her blue sapphires shone brightly and were filled with affection.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru. I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there."

"You can stay here tonight, and I can keep an eye on you, if you'd like. He doesn't know where my apartment is, and my father was notified of his actions. More than likely, he's being picked up right now."

As if on cue, my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and seeing it was my father, I answered it.

"Sesshomaru."

"It's your father. I've got him. What did you do to him, by the way? He looks like he got into a fight with a heavyweight boxing champion."

"I did what I had to do to knock him out."

He grunted at that and I hung up, and turning back toward Kagome, I noticed the tears had stopped and she was looking at me with curious eyes.

"I'm sorry about this. I'm sure you've got better things to do then watch over me. I can go, if you like."

"No, you're no bother to me. I don't have any plans and after what you've been through tonight, I think it would be wise for you to remain somewhere you know you're safe, with someone who can protect you."

She nodded and then all at once seemed to realize that she was in my lap. She crawled back onto the bed, with a blush covering her face, and looked up at me. Her eyes were big beautiful sapphires and they seemed to bore into my soul.

"You said.. You said nearly all demons are in heat right now. Doesn't that mean you are too?"

My libido chose that time to rear its head, but I stomped it back down and cleared my throat, "True, I am, but I have complete control over myself. I've never hurt anyone during my heat, and I've never taken anyone against their will."

She blushed again and dropped her gaze. I could smell the embarrassment rolling off of her and decided to give her a little space.

"There are sweat pants in the closet. I'll make some tea. If you want to bathe, the bathroom's through that door."

I turned to leave and she caught my hand with her own. The feel of her soft skin on my hand made me shiver pleasantly. She was intoxicating, her small gesture sent lightning through my veins. I turned back to her and her eyes were filled with affection again.

"Really, Sesshomaru. Thank you. I'm…still... well you saved me, and I'm in your debt."

When my head wrapped around her statement, I decided I needed to escape her compelling presence soon. Immediately. She was a virgin and gorgeous, in my bed while I was in heat. I nearly pounced on her right then. Clearing my throat to empty my head, I glanced away from her.

"No thanks necessary." With that I pulled my hand from hers and walked swiftly out of the room and to the kitchen. I could hear her rummaging through my closet but the second I was at the kitchen island, I put my head in my hands and took a few good, deep breaths that didn't have her scent on them. She was deliriously intoxicating and she made my head spin. What right did one tiny woman have to upend my world in one evening? How in god's name did she manage to still be a virgin even while dating Inuyasha? That kid was a deviant if I ever saw one. He was nailing sluts left and right before he started dating Kagome. I scowled at the thought of them together like that and I felt fury start to boil up.

When I'd regained my composure, I put the kettle on to make some tea. While the water was heating, I focused on getting myself fully under control and staying in control. The kettle started to boil and I made two cups of tea. Coincidentally, Kagome and I had the same favorite tea. She'd been telling Inuyasha her favorite foods and drinks while she was over at our fathers mansion and I'd happened to be in the room. She'd gone on and on about this amazing Chinese green tea with american peppermint in it, and she'd stated fervently that it was her favorite kind of tea. Little did she know, it was also my favorite kind and my father had looked between the two of us with his eyebrows raised. Inuyasha had blatantly ignored her during the entire conversation and had been texting on his phone. She hadn't noticed, but after she'd gone, my father had cornered me about the girl. He was telling me how beautiful and kind she was, and how she even liked some of the same things I did. He had also said, on more then one occasion, that she was far too nice for Inuyasha and that he needed someone to put him in his place. I'd silently agreed and avoided talking to him about her since then. I'd wondered for a while why my father even allowed him to date her. I had a sneaking suspicion that my father loved Kagome and wanted to keep her around until either Inuyasha tossed her aside or I 'came to my senses and snatched her up for myself'. I rolled my eyes at the statement he'd muttered angrily while making a hasty retreat in the shadow of my anger.

Finishing up the tea, I walked back in the bedroom to find her in my shirt, sweatpants, my sweatshirt and scrolling through her phone. The sight made more pride and possessiveness roll through me. I handed her the tea silently and she sipped it gingerly. When the taste of the tea finally registered in her mind, her eyes lit up and a small smile crossed her face. She looked like a kid on Christmas morning and I almost smiled at the beautiful sight.

"Did you remember that this is my favorite, or did you just happen to pick it?" Her voice was sexy and alluring even though I could tell that wasn't her aim.

I cleared my throat, slightly embarrassed she remembered that I was even present that day, "It's actually my favorite as well. I only keep a few kinds of tea in the house, but I did remember that you like it."

Her grin grew wider and I felt uneasy at her attention. Her eyes penetrated my usual mask and made my skin tingle. I felt her presence like she was a blazing forest fire that I stood in the middle of.

"How thoughtful of you", her voice was like chiming bells and I wanted to bask in it.

"You should try to get some sleep. I'm sure you're exhausted after such a hellish evening."

Her face turned grim again and she nodded at me. She set her empty cup on the bedside table and burrowed into the blankets. I watched as she got comfortable and then I got up and snagged a book from the shelf, and settled into the chair that faced the bed.

"Thank you, again, Sesshomaru. I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there."

A shiver ran through both of us at the thought and I nodded my head toward her. Her breathing started to even out and her heartbeat slowed. In minutes she was asleep and I followed close after, her wonderful scent and the calming sounds of her breathing lulling me into slumber.


	2. Chapter 2: A Few Hours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagome and Sesshomaru go to Inuyasha's apartment to get her things and drama ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I apologize for the POV situation. Stick with it and eventually I swap to 3rd person permanently.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA! THIS STORY IS FOR MATURE ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY!

... (Kagome POV)

The sound of buzzing nearby made me open my eyes. Bright light filtered into my eyes and I snapped them shut again. The buzzing persisted, so I opened my eyes again. Looking around I found my phone on the bedside table. It was still buzzing steadily so I grabbed it and blinked a few times, trying to let the name on the screen sink into my head. Rage welled up in me when I realized what I was looking at. I had ten missed calls from Inuyasha this morning and thirty two unread texts from him. I also had five texts from my best friend Sango, but I skipped over them to read Inuyasha's texts.

I: Kagome, I'm sorry. Please call me.

I: Kagome please call. Let me explain everything.

A few more looked the same until his temper kicked in and he started escalating.

I: You're my girlfriend Kagome! You can't leave me when things get hard!

I: You're a pathetic girlfriend! You're mine! I will never let you leave me!

I gulped and noticed my phone was being held in a white knuckle death grip. Fury and fear welled up inside my chest and angry tears leaked from my eyes. Taking a deep breath and calming myself, I re-read all of Inuyasha's texts and set my phone down. Looking up, I noticed Sesshomaru was sleeping in the chair he'd occupied last night. His head was resting on the wall behind him and his face was serene and beautiful. He's hands down the most beautiful man I've ever seen. His beautiful, long, silver hair fell from his shoulders and past his waist in stunning moonlit waves. His face was so peaceful and it was a complete contrast to the masked face he wears around everyone. My heart warmed at the sight of him.

He stayed all night. Just to protect me.

Blushing slightly, I got out of bed and went searching for the bathroom. Finding it, I turned on the bathtub and removed my clothes. I climbed in slowly, noticing for the first time that I had cuts that were scabbed over running down both of my arms. They burned a little when they touched the water. I inspected them more closely and realized they were claw marks from Inuyasha. Tears sprung into my eyes again, but this time I let them fall willingly.

I'd only been dating Inuyasha for six months. He'd been good to me, mostly. He called me names a lot and argued with me over little things. He never took me out to bars or clubs, only to little hole in the wall restaurants and out of the way cafes. He was always bossing me around and never asked me what I wanted. When he demanded I move in with him, and I said no, he'd gone into a rage for days and had swapped between screaming in my face and ignoring me. I didn't end up moving in with him, but I did move some of my things there. I had some clothes, my laptop and a few pairs of shoes. When he'd gone into the fit of anger I'd considered leaving him, but I thought that all couples fought and that it was natural. I hadn't realized then that he was unhinged, but I understood it fully now.

I sighed heavily when I realized I'd have to go there to get my things. If I could manage to go when he was sure to be gone, I could get in and out before he even noticed. Otherwise I'd have to take someone with me, and the only person I could think of that was capable of protecting me efficiently against Inuyasha was Sesshoumaru, and I wouldn't ask him for more assistance if I could avoid it. I already felt guilty that he'd helped me this much, but I couldn't find it in my heart to regret it. He'd saved me even though he didn't have to. Inuyasha had made it clear to me that Sesshomaru hated half breeds and humans, but it had never seemed that way to me. He was always watching me when I was in the same room as him, and he was always listening to what I had to say. Unlike Inuyasha, who only listened to me ten percent of the time I talked and found a way to make me feel like I was in the wrong when I confront him about it.

Sighing again, I realized I'd been in the bath for a while and the water was cold. I climbed out and searched for a towel. Finding one, I dried myself off and put Sesshomaru's sweatpants and shirt back on. Exiting the bathroom, I walked back into the bedroom, noticing that Sesshomaru was gone, and found my phone buzzing again. It was on the bedside table, and not on the bed where I thought I'd left it. I huffed a bit, thinking that either Sesshomaru had gone through my phone, or I was going crazy. I picked it up and looked at the caller ID. Inuyasha was calling me again. Anger rushed through my body and I decided to pick it up, if only to tell him we were done.

"What do you want, Inuyasha?"

"Kagome, finally! I've been calling you all damn morning! Where the hell are you?"

"It's none of your business where I am. How dare you even ask? We're done Inuyasha."

"What? No! Kagome, let me explain!"

"No! There's nothing to explain. I already know you've done this before! I know that you are a monster that takes advantage of women! Stay away from me!"

I could hear him shouting and cursing before I hung up on him. Sitting down I put my head between my knees and tried to calm down. My body was shaking as a side effect of the pure rage coursing through my system. I made a vow to myself, then and there, that I would find another miko and try to get training to control my powers and I would find a self defense instructor and learn how to kick some ass so that I'd never be a victim again. I heard shuffling at the door that brought me out of my thoughts. Sesshoumaru came in holding two cups of tea. I wiped my face and thanked him for the tea. He motioned at my phone and cocked an eyebrow at me.

"He's called me almost a dozen times. I told him we were done, but he doesn't seem to believe me."

Sesshomaru huffed a little but stayed silent. I eyed him warily. He was far more vocal last night. Today he had a look of cold indifference and was keeping his thoughts under lock and key. I nearly rolled my eyes, severely curious as to what caused the change in his demeanor.

"I'll just finish this tea and go. I wouldn't want to cause you any more trouble today."

He shook his head once, "You're planning to go retrieve your things from his apartment, aren't you?"

His spot on observation made me a little wary, but I nodded anyway and he shook his head again.

"You're not going alone. He could corner you. I will not be responsible for you getting attacked again, Miko."

His coldness floored me. Yesterday he was tender about my feelings, but today he was acting like I was just a responsibility. I searched his eyes for the emotion I knew he was masking.

"That's not necessary. I'm just going to go when he's left for work."

"Hn. I will accompany you. Just in case."

I sighed, obviously I wouldn't win this battle. I nodded at him and he walked out of the room. I followed him to the kitchen and he pushed some toast at me. I ate in silence while he watched me. His gaze made me uneasy and my skin was tingling everywhere his eyes wandered. His gaze was unnerving, it was practically devouring me. His eyes were filled with an emotion I couldn't peg, but it looked terrifyingly close to lust. I cleared my throat when I was finished and he grabbed my plate and put it into the sink. He motioned for me to follow him and he grabbed his keys as he walked to the door. I followed and he led me to an elevator. We rode down in silence but the atmosphere was choking me. An unidentifiable energy coursed through the tiny space and my entire body was on fire. We exited the tiny compartment and I took in a massive breath as we walked into the parking garage. He walked up to the most beautiful and expensive car I'd ever seen. It was a black Audi R8. He opened the door for me and I slid into the passenger seat. The car was gorgeous. I'd never seen or touched something this expensive, it was mesmerizing. I looked at the interior, practically salivating at the beauty of it. Moments later, Sesshomaru slid into the driver side seat. He looked at me and frowned slightly.

"You should probably change. Where do you live?"

His brisk manner was still throwing me off, but I told him the address of my apartment anyway. He fired up the engine and pulled out of the parking garage. The ride was passed in silence and I spent the entire time thinking. Inuyasha had called Sesshoumaru the Ice Prince. I hadn't believed him at the time, he'd been polite enough when we were introduced and the handful of other times I'd seen him at Toga's estate. After this morning though, I was inclined to believe he was telling the truth. Obviously there was more to him then just his facade. He'd been more than polite last night. He'd been thoughtful and kind to me when I was in need. I couldn't stop thinking about how sweet and gentle he was with me when he'd found me in the alley.

Sesshomaru cleared his throat, bringing me out of my thoughts and I realized that we were at my apartment. Sesshomaru looked unsure of letting me go alone.

"You can come with me. I don't think he'll be here, but better safe than sorry, right?"

He grunted at me and got out of the car. With demon speed, he rounded the vehicle and opened my door for me. I raised my eye brow to myself, ever the gentleman. I thanked him and led him up the stairs to my apartment. When I arrived at the door and pulled out my keys, Sesshomaru snatched them out of my hands and opened the door himself. I huffed at him but followed him into my apartment slowly. He looked around and I could hear him scenting the air. When he was appeased, he turned to me and motioned his hand that I could proceed. I sighed and rolled my eyes. I heard a sound that was startlingly close to a chuckle. I strode into my bedroom and closed the door behind me. I grabbed a dress and a cardigan and put them on. I didn't want the cardigan, it was warm out, but I needed it to hide the scratches covering my arms. I'd seen Sesshomaru eyeing them angrily and noticed that he'd been extra icy and quiet. He was a master at brooding.

Exiting the bedroom, I saw that Sesshomaru was standing in my living room looking at my large bookshelf. It was stocked with dozens of books and had a few pictures of my mom and brother, Souta, on it. He was looking at the books with obvious surprise. I thought it was a little irritating that he was surprised that I was well read. He fingered a particular book of poetry that was, coincidentally, my favorite. It was an old copy of poems written in the feudal era about the dark times they'd faced and two lovers separated by time, titled: Love Across the Era's.

"That's my favorite", I stated quietly. He stepped back from the shelf quickly and dropped his hand to his side, flexing it as thought it were burned. He gazed at me, taking in the site of me in my dress. There was an emotion in his eyes that looked somewhere between shocked and curious but I let it go, knowing he wouldn't enjoy being questioned by me. He nodded at me once.

"That's better. Shall we go?"

I nodded at him and followed him back to the car. We rode in silence again and my nerves started to rampage in my chest. I was praying to every god that Inuyasha wouldn't be there. I wasn't sure if I could handle seeing him yet. A few minutes before we arrived, Sesshomaru cleared his throat. I snapped my head up to find him flitting his eyes back and forth between me and the road.

"What is it? You're sighing like a highschool girl."

Anger rose in my chest again but I tried to shove it down, "I'm just nervous. I hope he isn't there."

He grunted at me and pulled into the parking lot to Inuyasha's condo. He opened my door for me again and then stood sniffing the air. His eyes darted around the parking lot and I saw him gaze at its exit.

"I believe he is gone. You should be able to grab your things. Be quick. I will wait here until you return, just in case he comes back before you're done."

"Okay, thank you."

I turned and walked toward the stairs. Arriving at his apartment, I opened the door with the key he'd given me. I heard noises coming from the bedroom and assumed it was the cleaning lady. I trailed slowly through his apartment, thinking about all the moments that could have led up to this. I sighed angrily, realizing I should have left when we'd gotten into that fight about moving in together. I couldn't change anything now, however, so I tried to focus on my task. I walked toward the back of the condo, grabbing my laptop off the kitchen table before heading into the bedroom. When I opened the door, I realized that the noises hadn't been coming from the cleaning lady. The noises had been coming from Inuyasha, who was currently in bed with some girl I didn't recognize.

....(POV Change...sorry...) Sesshomaru:

I leaned on my car while I was waiting for Kagome. When we'd arrived I had been able to smell Inuyasha's scent mixed with a female aroma. The scent had been a few hours old and had been most potent near the exit to the parking lot, so I figured that he'd left with the female hours ago. It wasn't until I heard noises floating down from the open condo door to my hyper-sensitive ears, that I realized just how incorrect my assumption had been.

"Oh fuck", I muttered while I ran toward the apartment.

The sound of two people having sex was still coming from the apartment, they hadn't realized she was there yet. I ran in and saw her open the door to the bedroom. Her face fell and I ran up behind her. What I saw made rage roll through me and made my stomach turn. Not even a few hours after she'd broken up with him, and not even a full day after he'd tried to take advantage of her, he was having sex with another woman. He was still inside the woman and she was groaning his name. A quick look validated that it was his ex-girlfriend Kikyo. Glancing up to Inuyasha's face I realized that he was not in control of himself. His eyes were crimson and there were jagged stripes lining his cheeks. He had his claws sunk deep into the flesh of the woman's hips and the punctures were bleeding profusely. She didn't seem to notice that he was damaging her.

Kagome let out an angry scoff and both Inuyasha and Kikyo looked up to see us in the doorway. Inuyasha growled and bared his teeth at us.

"Kagome, you've come back to me", his voice was a growl and the words sent possessive fury through me.

"No I haven't! You're despicable! I can't believe I ever lowered myself to date you!" She turned and ran straight into my chest.

Inuyasha started screaming and rampaging, "Kagome, you'll always be mine! I'll never let you leave me you stupid bitch!"

I grabbed her and picked her up, trying to book it back outside to the car. I wouldn't mind tearing Inuyasha to pieces, but while Kagome was there, she was in danger. A quick consideration about how my father would feel if I butchered his other son flitted through my head, but I shook it off, not actually caring if I disappointed him. I saw Inuyasha climb off the woman and run toward us. Kagome yelped as he reached for her and ripped the back of her dress. The scent of her blood filled my nostrils and I realized he'd clawed her. I snarled at him and turned to leave. He ran after us and Kagome saw him leap at us as we were exiting the door. She threw up her hands and a powerful, pure barrier appeared in front of the doorway, caging him inside. He snarled and batted at the barrier, only to have it zap him over and over again. I felt Kagome go rigid in my arms, and when I looked down at her face, she was knocked out. I growled, wanting to go into the apartment and beat Inuyasha to death, but knowing I had to get Kagome back to my apartment safely, I turned toward the parking lot.

I picked her up and settled her into my arms again and carried her to the car. Settling her into the seat and buckling her in, I pushed the hair back from her face and noticed she had a long gash on her cheek as well as claw marks on her shoulder and her dress was torn into shreds, just like the day before. Inuyasha must have swiped at her from behind me when I hadn't seen. A growl rose in my throat but I silenced it when she stirred. I closed her door and went to my side and climbed in. I was still fuming. I wanted to cut Inuyasha's head off. I frowned when I realized my father wouldn't let me kill him just because he was an idiot.

I drove back to my apartment, speeding the entire way. I kept my eyes on the road and away from Kagome's sleeping form. If I saw her wounds again, I was likely to turn the car around and do something stupid. I spent the drive thinking about her barrier. I knew she was a miko and that she was untrained but had a lot of untapped potential. Her aura was massive, even untrained as she was. If she had proper training, she'd be nearly impossible to kill. She'd thrown up the barrier without a second thought, though the effects of such a strong barrier compounded with very little practice, resulted in her being knocked out and sapped of her energy. Maybe if I suggested to her that she should get some combat training and learn how to use her miko powers, she'd agree. I pondered over the idea of training her in combat myself. I'd been training since I could walk, and I was a decent teacher. Maybe she'd consider it if I present the option to her. It would ease my mind that she had some self defense training and I'd get to spend more time with her.

Soon we were pulling into the parking garage. I pulled a jacket out of my trunk and went around to her door. As I was covering her with my jacket, I realized she had something grasped in her arms. It was her computer. It surprised me that she'd had the strength to keep her hold on it as we were departing. I settled the jacket on her and pulled her into my arms. We ascended to my apartment in the elevator, and I took the time to study her face again. Seeing the cut made anger boil inside me, but I kept it reined in. Before the doors could open, I leaned down to her face and licked the line of her cut. Luckily Inuyasha didn't have the ability to poison anyone with his claws or fangs, like I did. The scar would be nasty if he had used poison. It closed and disappeared almost immediately. Left behind was a tiny white scar that was nearly imperceptible. She stirred a bit and I pulled my face away. The taste of her blood was addictive. It was sweet and mouthwatering. I locked down my beast and took control of myself once again as I headed into my apartment. I sighed internally, how often would I have to save her and carry her unconscious body back here? I settled her onto the bed, just like last night, and tossed a T-shirt next to her. I sat on the edge of the bed and watched her sleep for a few minutes. Thoughts were sifting through my head like quicksand and my heart was beating wildly in my chest. Having her here, in my apartment, was starting to wear down my control. She was gorgeous and she smelled fantastic. Her ebony hair flowed around her and over the sheets like waves. Her tresses were in stark contrast to her lovely porcelain skin and her lips were plump and pink. Her body was phenomenal and she had wonderful, luscious curves.

A last thought flickered through my head before I forced myself to get up and go into the kitchen: if she stayed here much longer with me, my control would break and I wouldn't be able to just have sex with her one time. Which was a highly dangerous activity for a human to take part in with a demon that was in heat. I knew my attraction to her was more then just physical, and with my heightened level of arousal, I'd probably make the mistake of making her my mate, and possibly hurting her.

...

Thank you for reading, feedback is welcome.

KJ


	3. Chapter 3: Most Dangerous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sesshomaru demonstrates the danger he presents to Kagome

As always, thank you for reading.

Love, KJ

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA! THIS STORY IS FOR MATURE ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY!

... (Sesshomaru POV)

With one last look at Kagome's peaceful face, I grabbed her phone off of the nightstand and started to go through it. I knew it was a major breech in privacy, but I had to know what had riled her up so much this morning. When I'd walked into the room to find her on the phone with Inuyasha, her aura was flaring dangerously and it was even painful for me to be near it. Her raw power had burned my skin. Finding her message app, I clicked into it and opened up the thread from Inuyasha. The most recent texts made anger roll steadily through me.

I: You'll always be mine, you stuck up little bitch!

I: I won't let anyone have you!

I: You're a pathetic girlfriend! You're mine! I will never let you leave me!

I: If I can't have you, no one will!

Those were some of the most recent ones. There were at least thirty messages from him and knowing he knew her number at all made me angry. My temper was short as is, due to his cyber and physical attacks on Kagome. I scrolled back to the earlier ones from this morning and they agitated me further.

I: Kagome, I'm sorry. Please call me.

I: Kagome please call. Let me explain everything.

I: Please, let me explain everything to you. Call me back. I don't want this to come between us.

I was nearly exploding with rage. He was trying to explain away his assault on her. He was attempting to make excuses for nearly raping her in an alleyway. I was immediately furious with myself that I hadn't beheaded him on the spot when I'd seen him. He deserved a slow and torturous death, yet I'd let him get away mostly unharmed. Having enough of his bullshit, I took my phone out and screen shotted the texts and sent them to myself. I erased the evidence and placed her phone back on the nightstand where I'd found it.

I strode out of my room briskly, sent the screen shots of the texts to my father and put the kettle on the stove to boil. I snatched a book off the shelf in the living room. The book was an identical copy of the one in Kagome's apartment: Love Across the Era's. I didn't usually read anything that was romantic, but this particular set of poetry had struck a cord with me. My father had given it to me and ordered me to read it. I had wondered at his motives, but soon after starting the book, I stopped caring about them. The book made me nostalgic; it reminded me of the feudal era. I was nearly seven hundred years old and the feudal era had been my favorite time period. It had been a simpler time. Demons had roamed free and my family had been the highest ranking and strongest demons in all of Japan.

One particular set of poems had caught my eye when I'd read it. It was a collection of ten poems about a woman. The anonymous author had written about her beauty as he watched her. She would walk through fields of flowers during the full moon in a silver kimono. He'd watch her through the night and the verses were so vivd that every time I read it, I have flashes of memories. The images were more like an elusive dream sequence, than memories. I could see images of silver silk, onyx hair, and porcelain skin bathing in the moonlight. While reading the set of poems, my mind would be filled with countless images of a woman that was familiar, but that I couldn't place. It struck me odd that Kagome, an untrained human miko, would have a copy of the book by an unknown author. It also surprised me that it had obviously been read countless times. I'd noticed when I'd picked it up and opened it, that she'd bookmarked the section that contained my favorite set. The book had obviously been read over and over again. The binding was fraying, the pages were worn, and the scent of her favorite tea had lingered on the pages. It seemed she drank tea while reading the book. I'd noticed there were notes scribbled into the margins but she'd come back into the room before I'd been able to read them.

The kettle started whistling and I turned back to the kitchen to make tea. When I'd just finished pouring two cups, Kagome padded into the kitchen in just my T-Shirt and what appeared to be underwear. It was a tiny scrap of cloth and my attention was immediately diverted to her legs and ass. Her legs were luscious and long, and her skin looked like it would be as soft as silk. Her ass was perfectly rounded and it made my mouth water. She cleared her throat and I realized I was staring. I pushed her mug toward her and turned to the fridge. I yanked it open and stuck my head in.

"Are you hungry", my voice came out ragged and deep.

"Yes. Are you okay? You seem... riled up about something", her voice sounded curious and her lack of memory angered me.

She knew I was in heat and she either had forgotten, or was trying to gain something from appearing before me this way.

"I'm fine. But I would appreciate it if you'd put on some pants."

She glanced down to her bare legs and then up to me. I was standing at the fridge with my head tucked into the cool appliance, while my hands had a death grip on the handles and my shoulders were hiked up to my ears.

"Oh, shit. I'm so sorry. I forgot. Oh fuck", her voice was fading away and I could hear her footsteps retreating toward the bedroom.

When she was out of the kitchen I extricated my head from the fridge and dug through it to find something to eat. Finding some chicken and rice, I set out everything I needed to cook and started in on it. I focused on cooking like it was a life or death meal, screw it up and die. It was the best way to keep my thoughts off of the woman currently in my room. Her scent was everywhere and it was distracting me. She was already weaseling her way into my head and throwing me off balance. I either needed to get her away from me for good or I needed to make sure she stayed by my side forever.

The idea of having to convince her to stay by me made me nervous, and nervous was not a feeling I'd had since childhood. But the thought of never seeing her again made me uncomfortable. Her presence left me calm and her smile spread warmth throughout a room. I let my thoughts trail off as I finished making lunch. I put it onto plates and made my way to my room slowly. When I entered, she was sitting up against the headboard with her face buried in my book. Her face was serene and I could see she thoroughly enjoyed reading it. She was wearing a pair of my sweatpants and her top half was obscured by one of my sweatshirts. I relaxed a bit when I saw that she was fully covered and her tantalizing form was concealed from my view.

She kept reading, oblivious to my arrival and I watched her peacefully for a few minutes. Realizing her food would get cold, I cleared my throat to get her attention. She looked up and a deep blush grew and spread over her face.

"Food's ready", I said and turned to head back to the kitchen.

She padded into the kitchen behind me and sat at the breakfast bar. I handed her a fork and set her food in front of her. She started eating without a word. Her face lit up and she turned to me with a smile.

"This is wonderful. I didn't know you could cook. I shouldn't be surprised that you're good at cooking, is there anything you can't do?" She said it with a chuckle.

"No, I excel at most things. The only thing I haven't nailed down is conversing with people I don't understand."

She nodded with a glint of humor in her eyes. After that, we ate in silence and I stole glances at her every few minutes. She kept her eyes glued to her plate, unwilling to meet my gaze. She was still blushing and I found myself needing to know her thoughts. I kept my silence, though. I was never one to ask too many questions, and I'd be damned if I started now. When we'd finished and cleared our plates, she finally met my eyes again.

"I hope you don't mind that I read your book. I have the same one. It's my favorite."

I held her gaze, "I don't mind."

She glanced around nervously, then let out a large sigh, "I'm sorry about this morning. I forgot that you're...uhm... in heat. And I hadn't realized that I didn't have any pants on when I came out earlier. I didn't mean to... set you off."

"You didn't 'set me off'. As I said yesterday, I've got complete control of myself." It wasn't a complete lie, if she'd have 'set me off', I'd have taken her right then and there. Yet I hadn't, I'd maintained some semblance of my control.

A tiny smirk lit up her face, "Yes, I can see that."

Her voice sounded sarcastic but I brushed it off. If she knew how close I was to breaking my control earlier, she wouldn't be smiling about it now.

"How are your wounds?"

She glanced down at her shoulders and ran her fingers over the scabbed cuts from yesterday, "I'm fine. Nothing time won't heal. I thought I'd had a scratch on my face, but when I woke it wasn't there."

She looked at me curiously, like she knew I'd healed it. Which I had... but she had been asleep.

"I healed the one on your face. Figured you didn't want it to scar." My voice portrayed that it was no big deal, but her face said she was surprised.

"Oh.. thank you. You're right, I wouldn't like a big scar on my face. How did you heal it?"

Shit, I knew she was going to ask.

"My saliva has healing properties."

She double blinked at me, "So... you licked my face?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Okay. Well thank you." Her blush had spread like wildfire across her cheeks and her voice sounded nervous and slightly confused.

The full truth was that I hadn't wanted her face to scar. It was a lovely face. It was soft and showed all her emotions and it bothered me to imagine her with a giant scar on her face that she got from Inuyasha. It wasn't a lie, though. I knew she wouldn't want a scar across her cheek. What girl would?

"Hn. I've been meaning to ask you, where did you get that book?"

She looked confused for a moment, but her face cleared and a small smile spread across her face, "Oh, your father gave it to me. He thought I would like it."

My original curiosity over my fathers intentions behind giving me the book multiplied tenfold. Why would he give us both the same book and not disclose his reasons? He was up to something, that much was obvious. I was attempting to form a response to her when her soft voice filled my ears. She'd turned to the window and was singing nervously.

She'd done it a few times before, mostly when she hadn't known I was around. She'd fiddle with her fingers and hum or sing whenever she got nervous. I'd seen her do it one time when she'd come to the mansion. She'd been waiting in the library for Inuyasha, looking out of the big window that faced the front drive way, but he'd apparently forgotten their date. I'd had my suspicions that he'd been of with his ex or some other girl behind her back and had simply forgotten about her. The thought had angered me at the time, and it still bothered me now. She'd stood at the window for nearly thirty minutes past when he'd said he would meet her there. Her singing had continued until she checked her phone for the time and sighed shakily. I could smell the salt of her tears and it had bothered me immensely that he had managed to make her cry without even being present. I'd been browsing a section of books trying to find any information I could about feudal era authors when her singing had started. Her voice was angelic and soft and it soothed my ears. Generally, human voices were piercing and painful, but her voice could lull me to sleep in mere minutes. I stood watching and listening to her sing until she stopped crying, I hadn't realized it initially but I had walked closer to her during her song. When she was done, I approached her, attempting to be obvious about my arrival. She noticed me immediately and hastily wiped her face with the back of her hand.

"Do you know where your brother is," she spoke softly, her voice raw and filled with sadness.

"No. I do not. Do you want to keep waiting?"

She shook her head and glanced around nervously.

"I could take you home, if you want."

Her eyes had darted up to mine and a small, genuine smile had lifted her lips.

"That's okay. I drove. Thank you though, it's very sweet of you to offer."

"Hn."

She walked past me and out of the door. I followed her aura until I knew she'd be coming out the front door. I'd walked to the window and watched her retreat to her car. She didn't look to be crying again, but I could still feel sadness rolling off of her. I had always questioned why she'd ever date him. He wasn't any good for her. Not specifically because he was a hanyou, but because he was a shitty person who had no reservations about seeing multiple women at once without telling them.

As I remembered the occasion, it dawned on me that she was either worried or nervous, but I couldn't figure out why she was feeling this way now. She'd been comfortable in my presence for the past two days despite the circumstances that led to it. I kept thinking about it while I gazed at her profile. Her face was bunched in thought and there was a delicate V notched in her brow. She was tapping a foot and drumming her fingers on her opposite arms. She finally let out a sigh and turned toward me. I raised an eyebrow at her and she stopped fidgeting.

"I should probably go back to my apartment soon."

I shook my head once, "Tonight is the full moon. All the lunar demons heat will be amplified a hundred fold. You should remain here, where you're safe and hidden. Lock all the doors. And don't let anyone in. If you can manage it, you should erect a barrier outside of the door for protection."

She looked at me with curiosity, "You think we'll need a barrier? I'm sure you can handle anyone who would try to get in here."

"I will not be here. It would be... unwise. I'm a lunar demon as well."

She scoffed a bit, as if the idea of me being a threat to her was laughable.

"I highly doubt that you'd break your control. You're not a threat-", she broke off with a stunned gasp. In less then a second I'd pushed her up against the window and caged her in with my arms planted on either side of her face and pressed my front along hers. I ran my nose from her collar bone to her jugular, drawing in her mouthwatering scent and scraped the flesh gently with an elongated fang. Her breathing hitched and I wanted to snarl in pleasure at her response. My body ground against hers without my brain's permission.

"Do not forget who I am, Miko. I am the most dangerous threat to you", with that I released her and strode off to the bathroom to shower and recompose myself.

... (Kagome POV)

I stood rooted to the same spot for approximately five minutes. My heart was thundering in my chest, beating frantically against my ribs like it was trying to escape. My breathing was ragged and I was warm all over. A heated blush covered my chest and face. To my surprise, I was highly aroused by his warning and the feel of his body against mine. What had really set me alight was his deep voice in my ear, the feel of his well muscled frame against mine, and the feel of his fang at my throat. Five minutes ago the idea of Sesshomaru wanting me in any way shape or form had been laughable. I was a mere human and he was a Taiyokai of considerable strength and heritage. He'd quickly set fire to my original beliefs when he'd pushed me up against the window and ground his body against mine.

My obvious arousal had me confused. No male had ever turned me on so fast. Inuyasha had been very good looking and charming and I'd considered giving him my virginity, but it had taken nearly five months of talking, flirting and innocent kisses for me to even consider it. I'd known he'd been with quite a few women, though, and we fought all the time, and he treated me so poorly, so I'd been waiting. We'd only been dating for six months and he had been asking more and more often if I was 'ready' and I'd kept telling him I'd wanted to wait. I had feared that if I had given in to him that he'd leave me once the challenge of sleeping with me was gone. It had never crossed my mind that he'd try to force himself on me, and the revelation that he'd done it before had made me nauseous. I could almost sympathize with Inuyasha's inability to control himself. I had a very difficult time controlling my miko powers and had nearly killed a few unsuspecting demons that had startled me, but I'd never damaged anyone before and I'd taken extreme caution with my abilities since I had realized how little control I had. I had been thinking continuously for the past two day's why Inuyasha hadn't worked out a system for being in heat. If he knew he was going into heat, why didn't he make sure he was in a safe environment free from anyone that he could harm? If he was aware of his lack of control, why hadn't he taken measures to prevent himself from hurting anyone? And why hadn't he warned me?

All of those circumstances considered, my brain wandered to Sesshomaru. He was drop dead gorgeous. His hair was flawless and looked like silk. I was sure if I ever got to touch it, it would be luxuriously soft. The stripes that adorned his face were beautiful and I felt the desperate need to trace them with my fingers. His eyes were penetrating and held all of his emotions. People thought he was the ice prince, but if they looked into his eyes, I was sure they'd see what I did. His eyes were filled to the brim with emotions, though his face stayed carefully blank. He was well muscled and had endless manners. The only thing that was against him was his ability to lock people out. He was very private and it seemed as if he liked it that way. That being said, he'd never been rude to me. He'd been protective and chivalrous. He'd kindly allowed me to stay in his home and he fed me and kept me safe.

My mind strayed to the full moon tonight. I had the distinct feeling that if Sesshomaru did in fact approach me tonight, that I'd have a difficult time saying no. He was thoughtful and protective and absolutely gorgeous. He wasn't kind, necessarily, but he was thoughtful; always making me tea, getting me food and letting me wear his clothes. But the nagging feeling that he'd never been interested in me before he went into heat wouldn't leave me be. He'd barely even glanced at me besides the time in the library a few months ago when he'd offered to drive me home. The only interest he had in me must be stemming from the full moon and the heat. Surely his interest would wane once he wasn't in heat anymore.

My thoughts screeched to a halt when I heard his shower turn on. Immediately my thoughts were in the gutter and my mind was imagining every single inch of him under the hot water. My mouth went dry and heat started to pool low in my belly again. Deciding I'd had enough torture for one day, I shook my head and went back into the kitchen to make tea. My game plan was that as soon as he went into his room for clothes, I'd sprint for the bathroom to take the shower for myself. I sipped on my tea and waited until I heard the shower turn off. I downed the rest of it and set the cup in the sink. Tiptoeing toward the hallway, I peaked around the corner and saw him walk into his bedroom. He looked downright delicious in only a towel, but I shook my head to clear the thoughts and ran to the bathroom. Shutting myself inside, I leaned back against the door and let out a shaky breath.

A quiet chuckle sounded from behind me and his deep voice resounded through the door and into my ears, "Not a very good escape route, Miko." His voice sent tingles down my spine and I jumped out of my skin when I realized he'd caught me sneaking around.

"I wasn't escaping. I was trying to get a shower." My wavering voice didn't even convince me, let alone him.

He grunted and a sound that was close to laughter filtered into my ears. I heard his feet pad away and I flipped the lock and started to peel myself out of his clothes. I loved wearing his clothes. His smell was all over them and they were soft and made me feel safe, like I was surrounded by him. I was a little miffed to take them off but I knew I needed to shower and get the blood off of me. I turned the shower on and climbed in. The hot water fell over me in waves and I was eternally grateful that Sesshomaru had one of those insanely expensive shower heads. I began scrubbing my arms and my back, attempting to clean all the blood off. I looked to the floor and saw that there was a lot of blood circling the drain. I reached around to my shoulder and found a deep gash that I hadn't seen before. It had started to heal, but my sprinting-to-the-bathroom-antics had reopened it and now it was bleeding freely down my back. It stung as the water poured over it. I cleaned the rest of my body and got out quickly. Just as I finished wrapping myself in a towel, a small knock sounded at the door.

"Are you okay? I smell blood."

"I'm fine. Actually... I could use your help. If you don't mind."

I turned to the door and flipped the lock and opened the door a few inches. His eyes took me in and a tinge of red rimmed his eyes. I turned around and showed him the cut and I heard a quiet, angry growl. He must have walked closer to me because when he grasped me around the waist with one hand, and gripped my arm gently with the other, I nearly jumped out of my skin. His hands radiated warmth into me and I relaxed at the feel of him.

He cleared his throat, "You want me to... to heal it? Like I did with the one on your face?"

"Would you? I can't get it to stop bleeding."

He cleared his throat again, "Sure."

A few seconds passed and I thought that he might change his mind, but then I felt his tongue trail over the gash. It stung a bit, but he went back over it a few times and eventually the skin cooled and the pain receded. When I thought he was done, he gripped my waist tighter and pulled me closer to him. He lowered his lips to what was most likely a scar now, and pressed them gently over the line. He trailed a path down the scar, and back up again. My breathing went ragged and heat flowed through me. I fought off the urge to moan, and gripped the sink tighter. Arousal was raging through me and I was fighting to control myself. All I wanted to do was throw myself at him, but I still didn't know if he'd been interested in me prior to going into heat. I didn't want to be a toss away girl that he only had sex with when he was in heat.

His lips left my skin and he slowly dropped his hands. He cleared his throat and when he spoke his voice was deep and heated, "This is exactly why I shouldn't be here tonight. I'm going to the store. I need to get some things so that you can eat while I'm gone. I left my number on the kitchen table. Text me with any grocery requests."

He kissed the back of my neck then fled the bathroom. I heard his keys jingle, then the door open and close. The moment it closed my legs gave out and I collapsed on the floor in a pool of sexual frustration and desire. This overbearing, protective, sexy man was going to be the death of me.


	4. Chapter 4: Down the Rabbit Hole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagome and Sesshomaru make an odd trip to the well house,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The POV problem is fixed.

hope you enjoy. Feel free to leave me a comment and any questions or suggestions are always welcome!

-KJ

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA! THIS STORY IS FOR MATURE ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY!

...

Sesshomaru scolded himself as he strode toward his car. He'd willingly succumbed to her scent and the sight of her pale skin. She'd only asked for him to heal her wound, but instead he'd groped and kissed her.

Idiot.

He growled internally. He needed to get control of himself, but with night coming nearer every second, his control was waning. He needed to get away from her, and fast.

As he climbed into his car his phone pinged with a message. It was Kagome asking for a few things from the grocery store. As he made his way toward the store, he pondered over his obsession with the miko. She'd burrowed under his skin and he felt he was slowly losing his mind. Even being away from her for this short period of time was difficult for him. He wanted to be near her constantly. She was extremely accident prone as well, who knew if she could be safe on her own? She might set the entire condo on fire while he was gone for less than twenty minutes. The thought made his eyes narrow and his hands tighten on the steering wheel. Becoming uneasy, he stepped on the gas and raced toward his destination.

While Sesshomaru was gone, Kagome sat in his living room, fretting constantly. She had made more tea and attempted to calm her nerves. She was flushed and aroused and couldn't get the feel of his tongue on her skin out of her mind. She finally pushed the thoughts away and settled in with the book. As she began to read, images of silver hair and a white kimono flitted through her mind. She could practically feel the silkiness of the silver hair on her neck and shoulders as the mystery man surrounded her. Her nerves started to fray again and she felt as if she was reading about her and Sesshomaru. The thought sent lightning through her veins and made her tingle from her head to her toes. She dropped the book with a frustrated groan.

Trying to distract herself from her wanton thoughts, she stood and made her way toward the front door. She noticed that it had a decent lock, but she wasn't sure that it could withstand an angry demon on a mission. She began to worry about tonight. If the demons were going to be as riled up as Sesshoumaru thought, she might need reinforcements.

Taking out her phone she dialed her mother. She answered on the second ring.

"Kagome? Are you alright darling? I haven't heard from you in a few days."

"I'm okay mama. I've just been busy." She tried to sound as bland as possible. The idea of telling the entire ordeal with Inuyasha to her mother seemed like she was begging for a lecture or an 'I told you so'.

Her mother thought it was entirely inappropriate for her to be seeing a half demon. She thought Inuyasha had been a brash and disrespectful boy, not to mention dangerous. As a miko herself, she thought it was wrong for Kagome to be consorting with a demon.

"I heard that tonight's a full moon, and I also found out that the demons are in heat right now. I was wondering if I could come pick up some sutra's and a few binding and protection spells."

"Of course dear. You should protect yourself as much as possible. Speaking of demons, are you worried about Inuyasha? Is that why you need protective spells?"

Kagome rolled her eyes but kept her voice as clear and gentle as possible, "Not at all, I just want them in case I should need them. You can never be too careful."

"Okay, Kagome. When would you like to come by?" Her mother's voice sounded skeptical.

"I'll be by in a few hours. I'll see you then. Bye mama. I love you."

"I love you too, Kagome."

With that the two hung up. Kagome took a few moments to send a text to Sango, letting her know that she was okay. As she was setting her phone back down, she heard keys in the door.

She looked up to see Sesshomaru coming in with a few bags in his hand. He made his way into the kitchen without acknowledging her. She rolled her eyes, knowing that he'd avoid her as long as possible after their little bathroom encounter. She got off the couch and followed him into the kitchen.

"Would you mind if we stopped by my mothers shrine? She's a miko and I wanted to get a few sutras and spells for tonight. Just in case."

He looked up from where he'd been rummaging in the bags. He stared at her curiously and tilted his head. Kagome fought back a giggle. He looked like a puppy when he tilted his head with that curious look on his face. She schooled her features and waited for him to respond. It was more difficult for her to keep herself together then she thought it would be. He continued to stare at her with his head cocked to the side. He could smell the amusement that she was feeling. He didn't see why she'd be amused right now.

"That sounds like an excellent idea. Do you want to go now?"

She looked at the groceries in front of him with a pointed look and he finished putting everything away. He raised an eyebrow at her and jingled his keys. She nodded and walked off to the bedroom to change. She walked back out looking disappointed and wearing the same clothes as before.

Before she could say the obvious, he did, "You need more clothes."

She sighed and nodded.

"Is your apartment on the way?"

She nodded and he turned and headed toward the door. She heard him mumbling quietly to himself and she padded quietly closer to hear him.

"..stock my entire damn apartment with your clothes at this rate."

His words, in context, were meant to be demeaning, but Kagome thought she heard a tenderness in his voice. She blushed slightly at the idea of moving some of her possessions into his apartment.

She padded after him quietly while he strode toward his car gracefully. This is becoming a daily ritual, Kagome thought wryly as she climbed into the car. The first few minutes went by in silence, he didn't speak to her but she could see he was white knuckling the steering wheel. She gave a pointed glance to his death grip on the undeserving object. He sighed, loosened his grip and took a deep breath.

A mistake. Her scent filled his nostrils and his need ramped up a few hundred degrees. His tight grip resumed and he punched the buttons on the dash, silently praying for a distraction from the temptation she presented to him. Soft music began to play over the car stereo. Kagome's eyebrows shot toward the sky when she noted that it was Clair de Lune. Kagome was surprised that he was listening to calm, classical music. It didn't seem like the type of music he'd listen to, but as she continued thinking about him, she could see why it would appeal to him. It was beautiful to hear when it was played perfectly and anything that was better with perfection drew Sesshomaru's interest. She smiled softly. This was her favorite piece of music.

"Sesshomaru..", she saw him stiffen at the sound of her voice, "did you know that this is my favorite piece?"

She watched him covertly, looking for signs of emotion. To her, it seemed he was weighing what he was about to say with life or death cautiousness. His eyes narrowed and his grip tightened further. His mouth hitched in a barely perceptible scowl and he let out a small huff before responding.

"Actually, I did."

Her eyes widened, and she tried to remember if she had mentioned it within his hearing. She'd told Toga, and he'd looked highly amused by the fact, though he wouldn't tell her exactly what had amused him.

"How did you know? I never told you."

"You told my father. He thought it was rather curious that it happened to be my favorite classical piece as well."

She stared at him, openly now, and he glanced askance at her. Her eyes took him in. She hadn't noticed earlier, but now she realized he was wearing a casual suit that was the darkest color of navy blue she'd ever seen. It was the color of midnight and his silver hair was luminescent against it. It flowed around his shoulders and down his back gently. She took in the features of his face, so striking and sharp. He had cheekbones that could cut glass and the amber of his eyes were striking against the ivory of his skin. He was positively breathtaking. Someone should make a sculpture of him, or paint him, she thought in awe.

"I wasn't aware that it was your favorite as well. Your father never mentioned it."

Sesshomaru noted immediately the change in her voice. It was lower and breathless. Her scent had altered as well. The scent of honey and roses consumed him, and he knew immediately that she was aroused. She cleared her throat and squirmed a bit in her seat. Scarlet blush was running rampant across her face and she was squeezing her thighs together. The action was to shove down her need, no doubt, but all she succeeded in doing was filling the car with her scent and making Sesshomaru crazy with need.

He rolled his window down and turned the air conditioning on to high. He kept his eyes on the road for the last few minutes of the drive while Kagome continued to fidget in her seat. Finally the movement became too overwhelming for Sesshomaru to stand, he reached a hand out to still her, settling it on her thigh, just above her knee. He heard her gasp at the touch and a fresh wave of her arousal filled the air.

He snatched his hand back with demon speed and replaced it on the steering wheel. It had worked, she'd stopped moving, but her color was brighter than he'd seen it before and he was raging with need. He was grateful for the suit jacket he had on, it hid his rampant arousal from Kagome's view. As he pulled into the parking lot, Kagome's nerves began to take over as she considered if Inuyasha would dare to be waiting for her there. He noted immediately the change in her. Her body stiffened and he could smell the anxiety rolling off of her. He parked, got out, and was at her side in less then a second. He opened the door and put his hand out to her. She took it tentatively and climbed out of the car. When he released her hand, she felt like it was on fire. Everywhere he touched left a blazing trail of heat and need on her skin. It was beginning to get a bit ludicrous. She was a grown ass woman, and she was reduced to a trembling heap of hormones around Sesshomaru.

She saw Sesshomaru's body stiffen and she froze, "What is it? Is he here?"

His eyes darted around the parking lot and toward Kagome's apartment.

"He was. His scent has waned a bit, I don't think he's still here, but his scent is everywhere, Kagome. He must have been waiting for you for quite a long time."

She flushed at hearing her name on his lips, sounding erotic with his silken voice.

He couldn't decide how he felt about the situation. On the one hand, he was highly pleased that while Inuyasha had been here, waiting for Kagome like a beaten dog, she'd been with him at his apartment, in his shower, and sleeping in his bed. On the other hand, that fucking mongrel had been stalking her, waiting around for her to show up unsuspecting and be attacked. The thought made fury simmer in his veins.

He grabbed her hand and tugged her behind him, "Follow me. Don't try to go anywhere without me. He might still be here. I'm not making that particular mistake again."

She followed him silently, partially pleased with him being protective over her, and partially frozen in fear at the idea of seeing Inuyasha again.

They came to the door of her apartment and she went to hand him her key. Before she had the chance he pushed the door open with one finger. She blanched and peered around him. The door had nearly been taken off its hinges. The lock was broken and the door had claw marks down the front. Anger and fear raged through her in equal parts at the sight.

He pushed the door all the way open and stepped inside. Kagome saw him scent the air and followed him. He walked through the apartment and into each room checking to make sure no one was there. Kagome stood rooted in her living room. The entire room was torn apart. The couches were slit open and the stuffing had been ripped out. All her books had been knocked from the shelf. She noted, gratefully, that at least he hadn't ripped the pages out of her books. She noticed that her copy of Love Across the Era's was missing. He'd taken her favorite book. Tears filled her eyes, but she tried not to let them fall as she glanced around the room at the havoc Inuyasha had wrought. She was dimly aware of Sesshomaru coming back into the room and standing beside her. After what felt like eternity he put a hand on her shoulder and turned her to him. His eyes held affection, though his face was blank. She stared into his eyes and realized that he was talking.

"...won't like this. He did serious damage to your room. If you want, I can help you find a new place to live. Somewhere he can't find you."

He paused, and it seemed like he was waiting for her to speak. Words clogged in her throat.

"Thank you", she choked out, "He took my book...the book."

His eyes narrowed, "I think my father has another copy. We'll get you a new one."

She nodded and he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the bedroom. Her eyes widened at the state it was in. The pillows had been torn and strewn around the room. Her drawers had been emptied and she saw that all of the clothes that had been in the dresser were on the floor. She noticed that many pairs of her panties were either torn or missing. There were a few pairs that hadn't been damaged and she reached for them. She picked them up and turned toward the closet. As she walked, she felt crunching under her feet. She looked down to find all of her picture frames in pieces on the floor. The pictures, mostly of her and her family, had all been torn to pieces. There were a few of her and sango that were also torn to shreds. Anger was building in her slowly and she noticed that her vision was blurring with unshed tears again. Kagome felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see Sesshomaru staring down at her.

"I realize that this is difficult, Kagome. But you need to calm down a little. Your aura is dangerous. If there's a demon within a hundred feet of here, you're going to incinerate them."

At first, his suggestion that she needed to 'calm down', made her angrier, but as she thought of her neighbors, she realized a few of them were demons. They'd been nothing but nice to her, and he was right. She couldn't go around torching innocent demons. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt herself calming, and with it, she felt a warm power flow into her. When she felt it was all contained, she opened her eyes again to see Sesshomaru staring at her in wonder. She turned to the closet and began rifling through her clothes, thanking the kamis as she went. Apparently Inuyasha had missed her closet when he was on his war path. She jumped a little at the sound of Sesshomaru's voice, she'd nearly forgotten he was there.

"You don't like being told to calm down, do you? I can't say I disagree with the notion. I'm not particularly fond of taking orders."

She realized that he was trying to distract her from the situation. An involuntary smile spread across her face at his statement, "Does any woman enjoy being told to calm down?"

A deep huffing noise came from him, and she realized it was laughter, "Good point."

"Though, I do have to thank you for recalling me to sanity. I didn't realize I was dangerous to anyone."

"You are. A lesser demon than I would have combusted the moment we walked in here. Though your power is raw and untrained, it's a force to be reckoned with. But with my age and power, it only singed me a bit."

She turned to look at him and saw that he'd rolled his shirtsleeve up. He was indeed singed. He had a few mild, red burns covering his forearms. Kagome's eyes widened and guilt tore through her.

"Oh, Sesshomaru, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I've got salve for that, at my mother's shrine. Oh lord, I'm sorry-".

He cut her off with a sardonic chuckle, "You didn't hurt me, these will heal in a matter of minutes. Not to worry, miko. I'm not a weakling."

She searched his eyes and knew he was being truthful to her. She sighed and turned back to gathering clothes, but he caught the worry in her eyes before they were out of view. He nearly rolled his eyes at her before he caught himself and turned to the rest of the room.

Seeing the damage that Inuyasha had done, anger rolled through him steadily. He wanted to maim Inuyasha. He wanted to tear him limb from limb. A thought occurred to him and he turned to leave the room.

"I'm going to make a phone call." She called out some sort of affirmation but it was muffled due to her rifling through the closet. He walked into the living room and pulled out his phone and dialed his father. He picked up on the second ring.

"Son. Calling me again so soon. What a pleasant surprise. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Not a pleasure, unfortunately. I've brought Kagome to pick up her clothes. It seems Inuyasha had come to look for her, and in her absence, he tore her apartment to shreds."

Silence came through the phone before Sesshomaru heard an angry growl, "That boy needs some sense beat into him. What's the matter with him, when did he become such a nuisance? Tell Kagome that I will pay for a new apartment and everything in it. She'll try to wriggle out of it, but make it crystal clear to her that there will be no negotiating. I will pamper her if I want to dammit."

"Will do. She also needs another copy of that book you gave her. Inuyasha stole it."

Silence again, but longer this time before Toga cursed through the phone. Sesshomaru knew his father was hiding something concerning the book, and he intended to find out just what exactly that something was.

"We are going to have a discussion about what exactly that fucking book is."

His father chuckled heartily through the phone, "I've been waiting for you to bring it up. When you get the chance, come up to the estate and we will talk about it."

"Where is he", Sesshomaru tried to sound relaxed and unaffected. He failed miserably and it game out as a growl. He expected his father to laugh and tell him that Inuyasha was beyond his reach and he'd punish him as he saw fit, but the silence that fell over them unnerved Sesshomaru.

"I don't know. He ran off last night. I'll find him, you take care of Kagome. The full moon is tonight. Be careful with her. Protect her. If one hair on her head is hurt, I will personally find some way to punish you." His father sounded far from pleased. In fact, he sounded positively murderous.

Sesshomaru hung up without answering. He was well aware that the full moon was encroaching and the dangers that it possessed to Kagome. If he, the prince of the Inu tribe, who was well known for his superior control, was a hair's breadth away from losing his shit because of this girl, then all the demons less powerful than him would be practically ravenous and savage at the idea of having her. The idea enraged him.

He shook off his emotions and turned toward the bedroom. He found Kagome in the closet, rifling through her things. She'd changed into a pair of dark blue shorts, a cream colored tank top and a pair of sandals. She looked positively ravishing.

She'd been throwing items into a small suitcase and she turned to look at him.

"Do you mind if I bring a bag of things?"

He shook his head and she smiled brilliantly at him.

"I spoke to my father", her shoulders slumped a bit and she turned her head back to look at him. "He's going to pay for a new apartment and all of your belongings. And don't even think about arguing, he's made it clear it's non-negotiable." The last came as he saw her about to disagree. She sighed and chuckled, "Stubborn man. Fine. I'll let him pamper me. Just this once."

She began to stand and he looked at the suitcase, packed meagerly.

"Are you ready? Is that all you're bringing?"

She looked up at him, "It's really all I have left. What's left either doesn't fit, or was torn to shreds." Her face was clouded with misery, and Sesshomaru felt an overwhelming need to comfort her. His entire body stiffened at the thought. I really need to get myself together.

He turned and strode from the room. She stopped to grab a few books from the living room floor and shoved them into her suitcase.

"We can come back for the rest or hire someone to grab what's not ruined."

She nodded and followed him out of the apartment and down to his car. She was being abnormally quiet and withdrawn. Sesshomaru realized she must be feeling weary of all the change. First her boyfriend tries to rape and kill her, causing her to stay with a virtual stranger, then she finds her home and belongings have been destroyed. Sesshomaru knew that if he was in her place, he'd be seeing red and out for blood. He was already out for blood and it wasn't because it was happening to him, but because it was happening to someone that was, for all intents and purposes, his. Sesshomaru's beast had been howling at him for days that Kagome was his woman, his mate. But he'd been fighting it the best he could. With him being in heat and the full moon drawing ever-closer, it was getting more difficult to deny his feelings for Kagome.

He opened the car door for her and let her in, then walked to his side and climbed in. As he started the car, he looked to her and noticed her hands balled in her lap. She was still feeling distraught. He could smell it coming off her.

"Where to?"

"Do you know the shrine northwest of town?"

"Yes. It's legendary. It's been manned by a long line of the most powerful priests and miko's for nearly five hundred years. That's your family?"

She looked embarrassed and humbled at the statement, "Yes. That's me. Priestess freak and prodigal daughter."

Her voice was dripping with sarcasm and her brows were puckered. It was cute. He wanted to kiss the angry V between her brows. He shook his head and started to drive.

"You don't want to be a priestess then?"

She glanced at him alertly, then she realized his voice held no judgment, just mild curiosity.

"I do want to be one, but I never agreed with my mother's sentiments towards demons. She wanted me to learn everything so that I could put it to use toward purifying demons. I didn't agree with her. Not all demons are evil. She believes that they will turn on us one day. I know that if evil demons gain a lot of power, they'll try to make a power play and take over humanity again and we'll go back hundreds of years in progress. We live harmoniously. Mostly. I know that there are evil demons who would try to kill every human on this island. But I also know demons who are good, and kind. I don't think we should hate all demons. Just be prepared to fight the evil ones. I refused her training because I didn't want to be a weapon. I possess considerable power. My mother believes that if I'm trained properly I could have the power to destroy every demon in Japan."

As Sesshomaru let that sink in, he began to realize that she had a healthy amount of personality and will. He'd always thought she was a bit weak willed, but now he was seeing that she had a considerable amount of back bone. If she had ample training in combat, she would be a force to be reckoned with.

"I don't know if you have that much power", he began, almost gently, "but I do know you have a wealth of untapped potential. I could train you in combat, and you could learn how to control your power from another miko. It might help to stabilize your power and keep you from killing people on accident."

She was stunned. He was willing to train her in combat? She knew that anyone else would kill for the opportunity to be trained by the killing perfection.

"Would you? I would love that. When can we start?"

Her excitement was a succulent perfume that made him want to smile. Smile.

"Tomorrow, if you like."

The car fell silent as Kagome let scenarios run through her head and as she thought of miko's that would be willing to train her. Sesshomaru, on the other hand, was contemplating his feelings for the vivacious miko. She was a tornado to him. She'd torn through his perfectly constructed walls and exterior and permeated into his bones. She'd uprooted him entirely and was bringing out things in him, that he hadn't thought himself capable of. It was startling to feel anything other than annoyance and anger, which were his usual emotions. She was changing him, or unveiling a side of him that he hadn't used or shown in decades. A familiar rumbling of emotion tore through him, but he couldn't place when he'd felt it before. An image flashed through his mind, shimmering ebony hair on porcelain skin.

He shook his head and focused on the road. He realized they were already there. He pulled over in front of the steps that led to the shrine and parked. He turned to look at her and noticed she was fidgeting with her hands again. He reached out and grasped her hands in one of his own. She stopped immediately. He felt her touch like a lightning bolt to his chest and groin. He released her hands, noticing that her face was blazing crimson again.

"Like I said, my mother isn't fond of demons, so I guess… just, be polite? She will probably be kind to you if you're gentlemanly. So I guess, just act like you normally do, but without the cold facade."

He raised one perfect eyebrow at her, noting that she was rambling. Inside, though, he was uneasy. She hit the nail on the head. He was polite because that's how he was raised, but he approached everyone, and everything, with the exception of her, apparently, with a cool exterior. She'd only been around him for a matter of days, and she already knew that he wasn't cold and dispassionate, as so many assumed, but that it was merely a wall, tactically placed so that no one dared to challenge him, to keep people on their toes, and to keep people away from him. He had no need for people to understand him in any way. Yet this small woman did. It unnerved him to think she was starting to know him, to understand him.

He nodded at her, got out, and went around to her door to let her out. As they climbed the stairs together, he felt her aura whip about nervously. She was getting worked up again. Her powers were whipping about dangerously, in a little magenta tornado, and nearly singeing him again. He cleared his throat and looked at her pointedly.

She reigned it in and laughed softly, "Sorry."

As they reached the top of the steps, Sesshomaru noticed the air was purer. He looked around and saw the shrine, a house, and a medium sized building. As he studied the building, a shiver went down his spine. All his senses were telling him that there was something different about the building. Not dangerous, necessarily, but there was power there. He wondered what it could be and made a mental note to ask Kagome about it before they left.

As they neared the house, they walked past an enormous tree, and Sesshomaru looked at it curiously. It was familiar to him, but he couldn't figure out why. There was a deep scar in the tree, from damage done long ago. Sesshomaru felt that the scar was significant, but he couldn't say why.

Frustration shot through him. So many questions. So many odd happenings around this girl, and he couldn't figure out why.

His train of thoughts scattered as he heard a door opening nearby. He turned his head toward the house to see a woman. She was dressed in a traditional miko outfit and was holding a staff in her hand. He cleared his face and tried to look harmless. He heard Kagome giggle next to him. Apparently his efforts were for naught, and she thought it was amusing. He brought his gaze back to her mother, and noticed that the staff she was carrying was vibrating with power. It wouldn't kill or maim him, but it would probably hurt like hell, if she attacked him.

Seeing her mother raise the staff, Kagome intervened, "Mom, this is Sesshomaru Taisho. He came with me to pick up some things. He's training me in combat."

Sesshomaru could tell that Kagome was using the combat training as an excuse to soften her mother toward him, but it irritated him to be reduced to her trainer. She'd spent the past few nights in his bed, damn it all.

"You're Inuyasha's brother aren't you? Can't say I'll be more fond of you than that ignorant child."

A small smile grew on his face. She was as fiery as Kagome.

"I can't say I blame you. That boy needs to learn some manners."

Her face softened, as she realized that he didn't like his brother either.

"Kagome's been dating that boy for months. Apparently there's no accounting for taste."

Surprise registered on Sesshomaru's face momentarily before it was gone again.

She hadn't told her mother yet, what had happened.

She waved them into the house and they followed her into the kitchen where she had tea waiting. She poured three cups and gestured for them to sit.

"Mom, I've been meaning to tell you, Inuyasha and I broke up."

Her mother looked pleased, and Sesshomaru felt warmth spread through him, knowing she no longer wanted Inuyasha.

"Good."

They sat and drank tea and the two women chatted idly, catching up. Sesshomaru sat silently and watched Kagome, drinking in every one of her movements. Sesshomaru realized after a while that Kagome's mother had been stealing glances at him. As he turned to her, he saw her eyes flit between him and her daughter. Obviously she wanted to know what was going on between them, because she wasn't buying that he was just training her. She'd caught him staring at Kagome, and the way he was looking at her wasn't as a pupil. It was with tenderness and affection. She considered what she knew of the man; he was well known for being ruthless, cold and doing anything to obtain what he wanted. But seeing him in front of her, she thought that the rumors hadn't mentioned the softness in his gaze. He had stared openly at Kagome with obvious affection.

Kagome's voice broke through her thoughts, "Mama, could I get those wards and ingredients now?"

"Absolutely, tell me what you need."

As the two women stood and began conversing over the protective spells and enchantments Kagome wanted, Sesshomaru followed Kagome's scent through the house and up the stairs. He opened the door to find a bedroom. It was feminine and it was positively drenched in her scent. He stared at the surroundings. There were photos of her as a teenager with other girls and books covered every flat surface. There were a few drawings tacked on the walls and Sesshomaru realized that she was a talented artist. He hadn't seen any drawings in her apartment, though.

He found a sketchbook on the nightstand and began to thumb through it. There were many drawings of landscapes but as he got further into it, he found detailed drawings of a man. It was him. She'd gotten the eyes right every time. He noticed that some of the details about himself that he'd never noticed were highlighted, and he wondered if that's how she saw him.

What are you doing, drawing me, miko?

He looked at the bottom of all of the drawings of him, searching for the dates. They were all dated prior to her dating Inuyasha. A few years prior, actually. What in the hell? How did she draw me, if she had never met me? More questions…

Feeling a bit unnerved, Sesshomaru put the sketch book back and went back to the kitchen. Kagome and her mother were standing and chatting and Kagome had a backpack that looked full.

"All set?"

They turned to look at him and he saw that Kagome's mom had a sly, knowing grin on her face. Kagome nodded and gave her mom a hug and a kiss, then they said their goodbyes and headed for the door. Noticing the building again, Sesshomaru walked toward it. He didn't turn to see if Kagome had followed, he knew that she would.

"My mother seemed to like you, surprisingly."  
He turned and raised an eyebrow at her.

She laughed, "Surprising because you're a demon, not because of who you are."

A smile stayed on her face and Sesshomaru thought he'd never seen a more beautiful sight.

"I gathered that too, though I'm not sure why."

He came to stop in front of the building and pointed at it, "What is this, Kagome?"

Her eyes widened and she looked up at him, "It's the well house. An ancient dry well is inside. We use the building for storage, mostly. Magical items, herbs and ingredients. Why do you ask?"

"There's a strange power coming from inside."

She looked at him dubiously, "Do you want to go inside? I've never known it to be magical, it may just be from all of the magical items in here."

She reached for the door and swung it open. She went inside and Sesshomaru followed. The moment he crossed the threshold, power whirled around them. Whatever it was, caused his remaining control to snap. He reached out and snatched Kagome's hand. He pushed her up against the wall, gathered her into his arms and lifted her in the air. She gasped and wrapped her legs around him. He groaned and bent his head to hers.

The moment their mouths touched, his thoughts turned into anarchy. He couldn't place all the emotions swelling through him. Their mouths fused together and his tongue ventured into her mouth. She moaned softly and the sound was a symphony to Sesshomaru's ears. Her arms went around his neck and she threaded her hands into his shining silver locks. He gripped her hips tight in his palms and ground against her. Their mouths clashed and played. He searched her with his tongue, learning every inch of her that he could. Her blunt fingernails scraped his scalp and he growled in pleasure. He broke off from the kiss and bent his head to nip at her collarbone and neck. His tongue darted out and Kagome shivered from the pleasure. She was positively purring at him. It drove his need to new heights. He brought his mouth back to hers and she responded fervently. She pulled him closer and delved her tongue into his mouth, licking and exploring.

In a flash, Sesshomaru had torn his mouth away, set her down, and was standing five feet away. Kagome looked at him incredulously. He'd kissed her. Ravished her, and she'd loved every second. But why had he pulled away?

"I'm sorry Sesshomaru. I don't know what came over me."

He kept his gaze away from her and she saw he was struggling to control himself. After a few minutes his breathing returned to normal and he turned to her.

"It's not for you to apologize, but I. I have no idea why I…"

"Mauled me?" She supplied cheerfully in her sing song voice.

A smile flitted across his face.

"Yes, for lack of a better term. I shouldn't have, especially so soon after what happened to you."

Her pleasure dimmed at the mention of Inuyasha assaulting her. She turned and sat on the well and watched Sesshomaru as he began to walk around the small space of the well house.

"I'm not sorry." Her voice was whisper soft, and he knew if he wasn't a demon, he wouldn't have been able to hear her. She spoke again, even softer, and his ears strained to hear her.

"I enjoyed it."

His entire body radiated with heat and need as her words sunk in. When he didn't respond, she tried to fill the silence.

"I used to come in here all the time. I would draw or read. This place has always been soothing for me. Five years ago, when I turned eighteen and moved out, was the last time I was in here. I don't come home often. My mother and I fought a lot about me being a miko."

He nodded, knowing she didn't like to talk about it.

Suddenly, he felt power radiating throughout the room and it felt similar to Kagome's. He turned to look at her, fully alert, and his heart stuttered in his chest.

Kagome was glowing. The light emanated out from her chest and seemed to flow into the well. He drew closer to her slowly, but as he reached out to her, her power swelled up and pushed him back.

"Sesshomaru, what-", She broke off with a gasp.

He watched as the powerful aura recoiled from him and into Kagome, knocking her down into the well. A resounding shockwave of blue light raced through the room. He ran to the well and peered inside, expecting to see Kagome crumpled at the bottom, but she was gone. The well was empty and her scent was gone.

...

Things are going to start getting weird! Be ready for more twists and turns to come! Feel free to leave a comment! Questions and suggestions are ALWAYS WELCOME!

-KJ


	5. Chapter 5: Time Took Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagome falls into the feudal era.

Here's the next chapter everyone! As always, enjoy!

comments, questions and suggestions are always welcome.

-KJ

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA! THIS STORY IS FOR MATURE ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY!

...

Wind rushed around her and she felt the familiar falling sensation. A blue and pink light flowed and surged around her. After what felt like minutes she landed abruptly on the ground at the bottom of the well with a yelp.

"What in the hell", she raised her voice to call out for Sesshomaru, "Sesshomaru, can you get me out of this well?"

She waited for him to come get her and took inventory of her body. She was a little sore, but nothing was broken or seriously damaged. As she was about to call out for him again, her ears started to register the sounds she was hearing. A symphony of wildlife greeted her; chirping birds and a soft whisper of wind. Her head snapped up to look at what should have been the ceiling of the well house. She gasped as she saw blue skies and soft rolling clouds instead.

Panic started to rise in her throat and she saw that her aura was whipping about frantically. She tried to pull it in and calm down. She noticed that the well had vines running down its side that led up to the opening. She huffed as she rose and began to use the vines to climb out, muttering to herself as she went.

"This is insane. I must have hit my head", she yelped as her foot slipped on one of the vines, "picked one hell of a day to wear sandals."

As she cleared the top of the well, her eyes widened in disbelief. She was in a clearing, a meadow of sorts, which was surrounded by woods. She was not at home anymore. As she peered around the meadow she became aware of a pulsing power that beckoned to her from the forest. The aura was vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place who it belonged to. She was sure she would recognize Sesshomaru's power anywhere, so it must not be him.

With one last glance around the meadow, she pulled herself out of the well and walked toward the faint pulsing of power. As she went, she steeled herself for anything and pulled her power around her like a second skin. It wasn't easy for her since she had very little training. A mist of sweat covered her brow and she felt the effort beginning to tax her nerves. As she stalked quietly through the woods, she became aware of a familiar presence, a calming entity that she knew she recognized.

The goshinboku tree! The tree from our shrine.

She headed toward it and realized that the familiar aura was combined with the essence of the goshinboku tree. As she came into the small clearing where the tree was, she saw that a person was bound to the tree with an arrow. As she drew closer, she recognized the person. She gasped, her eyes widened, and she jumped a few steps back.

"Inuyasha…what happened to you?" She whispered, feeling shock and fear at the sight of him. Vines had woven around his feet and legs and Kagome realized he'd been imprisoned on that tree for some time. He was silent and still, obviously asleep or dead. He looked peaceful, more peaceful than she had ever seen him.

"What is going on?" She asked herself frantically.

As she began approaching Inuyasha, the ground began to rumble and quake at her feet. She heard a screech emanate from the forest and it was growing louder. She steeled herself against what was coming. She felt its angry yoki moving toward her at a breakneck pace. In moments a huge demon appeared in front of her. It was the largest demon she'd ever seen. Most demon's in her time were generally humanoid but had obvious demon characteristics, like blue skin and gills or fur and a tail. This demon was not like the ones she had ever seen. It was obviously evil and feral. And it was huge. It was a centipede demon and it was shrieking about something, and the sound was piercing to Kagome's ears. As her hearing adjusted she started to comprehend some of what the she-demon was saying.

"I want it! I know you have it! I can feel it! Give it to me!"

The demon lunged at Kagome and she leapt to the side, rolling as she went. The demon wound its long body around her and started to squeeze and she was screaming over and over that Kagome had to give something to her. In a flash of panic, Kagome shot her hands out and rested them on the demons slimy body and pushed out as much power as she could. The demon screamed and released her. She dropped to the ground, and began to peddle backwards. She saw her pack lying a few yards away, right next to the centipede demon. She considered running to grab it, but she was terrified the demoness would snatch her up again. She backed into the goshinboku tree and Inuyasha's voice startled her so much she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Ey, Kikyo! What are you doing messing around with that thing? Just kill it!"

She whipped around and stared at him with wide eyes.

"I'm not Kikyo, Inuyasha! I'm Kagome! Ka-Go-Me! You should know that much by now!"

He stared at her, taking her in, and she was startled by the level of depth in his eyes. She had never seen him look so attentive. He'd always been only half there when she was with him. But right now he seemed to be in full control of himself. His eyes widened and she knew he realized she wasn't 'Kikyo', whoever the hell that was.

"Keh. Whatever. Kill the thing, wench!"

She bristled at the name, she'd been called it hundreds of times by him before. She turned back to the centipede demoness and saw that she was lifting her head and beginning to move again. Kagome's heart was pounding in her chest and she was breathing raggedly. She felt that her power reserves were low and that she probably wouldn't stay conscious through another attack on the damn thing. She turned to Inuyasha and eyed him dubiously.

"Can you kill that thing?" She asked him quickly.

"Keh, of course I can. Can you remove this damn arrow?"

She eyed the arrow, then flitted her gaze back to him. She heard the centipede demoness trying to rise and anxiety shot through her. She grabbed onto the arrow with both hands and wrenched it out of his body. It imploded with a burst of magenta light and the clearing fell silent. She looked up to Inuyasha who was watching her with surprise written all over his face. The demoness screeched and darted toward them. Inuyasha leapt from his place at the base of the tree and sliced the demon into pieces with his claws. He landed softly and turned to Kagome with an evil smirk on his face.

"So, you have the shikon no tama? Give it to me now, miko. Or I'll kill you here and now."

She blanched at his words and searched her mind for any memories of the shikon no tama. A memory tried to surface, but the harder she fought to remember it, the more evasive it was. She looked up into his eyes, and was startled once again to see that there was a depth of presence and attention that she'd never seen from him before. It took her awhile to find her voice.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Inuyasha! What the hell is the shikon no tama?"

She was a little terrified of him, but she saw her pack lying a few feet behind him and new she had a binding spell inside it. She began to circle sideways. He noticed and began to circle, in an attempt to keep her in front of him.

"Don't lie to me wench! I can sense it! I know you have it! And I will kill you if I have to!"

Kagome stared at him incredulously. She didn't sense anything except his yoki and her quickly rekindling reiki. She saw Inuyasha's ear twitch and she looked around the clearing. His head snapped to the side and Kagome began to hear the footfalls of horses. She took advantage of the new comers and knelt down, reached into her bag and snatched the envelope out. Thankfully she had grabbed this from her mother. It was originally for Sesshomaru. It was a binding spell that bound the wearer to the one who put the spell on them. She had grabbed it in case he lost control of himself. She thanked the kami's that she'd had the foresight to grab it.

She stood back up and stared at Inuyasha. She could see the new comers in her peripheral vision and she prayed they were friendly and didn't attack her. His head snapped back toward her as she fumbled to get the beads out of the envelope. His gaze flitted to her hand and he leapt at her with murder in his gaze.

She yelled out the incantation that her mother had taught her. The beads glowed incandescently with her magenta reiki and they shot out and looped themselves around Inuyasha's neck. She backed away as he landed before her. Her mind raced, and she wondered why he hadn't stopped. As he sauntered nearer, she remembered she had to bind him with a word. She thought frantically, trying to think of a word that would work. His hand reached out to snatch her throat, and she yelled out the first word that came to mind.

"SIT!"

In a flash of blinding light, Inuyasha was wrenched off his feet and slammed face first into the ground creating a small crater. Kagome stared, dumbfounded at his motionless body for a few seconds before snatching her bag up and backing away from him.

She heard the whinnying of horses and turned to find at least twenty people on horseback, all men save one, staring at her incredulously. The old woman who was at the head of the group stared at Kagome like she was a ghost. She slowly slid off her horse and walked toward Kagome. Kagome took a step back from the stranger and eyed her dubiously. The woman stopped as she saw Kagome's uneasy expression. Her face softened and she took an inventory of Kagome quickly. Her voice was soft, but strong as she spoke.

"My name is Kaede. What's your name child?"

Kagome regarded her carefully, but answered, "My name is Kagome. Where are we?"

The woman eyed her curiously. "We are near my village, Edo. We are in the Inuyasha forest. Can I ask how he got free from the sacred tree?"

Kagome's mind raced. She knew that her family's shrine was built where a forest had once stood. In the feudal era there had been a forest near a village called Edo, and that was where her ancestors had decided to build their shrine. Her mind was running a million miles an hour. The only conclusion she could draw, was that when she had fallen through the well, she had landed in the feudal era.

'This is madness… I must be going insane. There's no way', Kagome thought.

After a few minutes of silence, Kagome remembered that Kaede had asked her a question.

"I freed him", there was an audible gasp from the men on horseback. "A centipede demoness attacked me in this forest and I fought her as well as I could, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to finish her off. Inuyasha was pinned to the tree and said he could kill her if I freed him. So I removed the arrow."

Kaede's face showed all of her emotions as she processed the information.

"You are a miko, then. I saw you bind him. Do you know Inuyasha?"

Kagome considered how to answer. She knew if she told them all that she was from the future, they'd probably kill her or strand her here. She had no idea what to do. Considering her options, she went with the safest option she could think of, telling Kaede in private what had occurred. She hoped that she would believe her.

"Lady Kaede… Could we maybe go back to your village and discuss this in private?"

Kaede turned and looked at the men, her face showed amusement, as if she had forgotten they had been there.

"Absolutely child. It is not a far journey."

She turned to go back to her horse, but Kagome stopped her with a question, "What are we going to do about him?" She asked the question while pointing at Inuyasha where he was lying in a heap on the ground, groaning in pain.

Kaede looked at Inuyasha thoughtfully, then shrugged. "He will follow when he's ready. He believes you have the shikon no tama, but he knows that he can't get close enough to hurt you with those binding beads on. Leave him. He'll follow."

She turned and walked to her horse and grabbed the reigns. She motioned for Kagome to join her. Kagome followed and they walked next to each other. The village men followed and were all whispering. Kagome couldn't help overhearing some of their discussions.

"-looks just like her. They could be twins", one was saying with excitement.

Another responded in barely hushed tones, "maybe she's a reincarnation! That would explain her miko powers and how she knew the Inuyasha demon."

Kagome was stunned listening to them. She turned to study them and was surprised to find that they were dressed in the old style of kimonos and they all wore their hair in short pony tails on top of their heads. Kagome was growing more certain by the second that she had fallen back in time and the realization was nothing short of terrifying.

Kaede's soft voice interrupted her thoughts, "Pay them no mind, child. Their imaginations are running away from them."

Kagome calmed a little at her reassurance but a small piece of her continued to fret over what it meant. Inuyasha had called her Kikyo and these men seemed to think she was someone else as well. What did it all mean? She thought with frustration. They walked together in amicable silence. Kagome kept thinking and was taking in the scenery. The forest was lovely. She noticed that Kaede carried a bow and a quiver of arrows. She tried to remember the last time she'd shot a bow. It must have been at least five years. Her mother had told her it was imperative to learn and now she was realizing that it might be more important than she originally thought.

Her thoughts were curtailed as they broke through the forest and into a large valley. A small village lay beyond the forest and Kagome could see mountains in the distance. It was beautiful, and she knew that she wasn't in her time at once.

There was no smog, the sky was clear blue and beautiful and there wasn't a modern building in sight. The buildings of the village were all feudal style huts made of straw, bamboo and old fashioned mud-rock bricks. There were handfuls of villagers milling about in fields and a few wandering around the small village. There were dogs and chickens walking around peacefully and she could hear cows somewhere nearby. She stared incredulously at the sight before her and Kaede chuckled and lead her toward a small hut on the edge of the village. The men dispersed and Kagome knew that rumors were spreading like wildfire through the village. She followed Kaede into her small hut and watched as she prepared a kettle over the fire then sat down on some furs in the center of the hut. She motioned to the floor and Kagome sat down warily.

Kaede nodded at her and Kagome knew she was waiting for her to speak. She thought about how to start telling her story. She wasn't sure she knew exactly what happened either. She just knew that she was going to sound insane.

Kagome started in carefully, "I came from the well. I was in the well house near my shrine. I fell into the well and found myself at the bottom of your dry well. When I climbed out, everything was different. I was in that meadow. I followed a familiar aura to find Inuyasha pinned to that tree. I knew him from my home. He was different though, somehow. The Inuyasha I know is a petulant little boy who can't pay attention to anyone for more than a few seconds. He's dangerous too. He's like a child with a toy being taken away. He screams and rants and breaks things."

Kagome realized she was rambling and tried to get back on track. "When I found him on the tree, the centipede demoness came out of nowhere and attacked me. I tried to vaporize it, but I was too distraught to do it properly. I used quite a bit of my energy and I was afraid if I tried again I would pass out and it would kill me. That's when Inuyasha woke up. He called me Kikyo. He asked me why I was struggling to kill the demon. I asked him if he could kill her. He said he could if I released him. So I did. He killed her with a few swipes of his claws. Then he turned on me. He said I had something called the Shikon No Tama and that if I didn't give it to him he'd kill me. I don't even know what that is. That's when you guys came along. He got distracted and I used that to my advantage. I grabbed the binding spell from my pack and bound him. The rest you know."

Kaede looked at Kagome with kindness, but obvious curiosity. She didn't look at Kagome like she thought she was crazy. Obviously this old woman had seen enough weird things to take what Kagome said at face value.

Kagome tried to pinpoint her place in time, "Are we in the warring period? When Inu No Taisho is the ruling demon?"

Kaede looked surprised, "Yes child."

Kagome gulped. She was 500 years in the past. She had to find Sesshomaru. She had to get home. Sesshomaru would slaughter her when he realized she was gone. Gods, she was not looking forward to his reaction.

Kaede's voice broke through her thoughts, "Kagome. Inuyasha was bound to that tree fifty years ago by my sister Kikyo. He tried to kill her and take the Shikon No Tama from her. He betrayed her to get the jewel. He fatally wounded her before she bound him to the tree. After he was sealed, she died and was burned with the jewel, taking it with her into the afterlife. You are almost identical to her, and you carry the same spiritual power she had. I believe you are her reincarnation and that the jewel resides within you."

Kagome's mouth dropped open and her mind raced. As she thought about everything she knew, it made a bit of sense to her. Her mother had told her that she was stronger than all the women in her family.

"What is the shikon no tama?" Kagome's voice was trembling.

Kaede responded gently, "It is the jewel of four souls. It came to be when the priestess Midoriko, my ancestor, was warring with many demons. In a final attempt to finish the battle, she fused her soul with the demons and expelled them all from her body. The result was that her soul, and the demons souls, were sealed inside of the jewel, to battle for eternity. The jewel is said to grant a wish, any wish of the holder. The jewel will only disappear when the correct wish is made, though no one knows what the 'correct wish' is. The jewel holds incredible power and makes one nearly invincible. The jewel is coveted by all races, human, hanyou, and demon alike."

Kagome sat in stunned silence. She didn't know what to say. Kaede sensed her anxiety and changed the subject.

"Are you untrained? I am a priestess, though not nearly as powerful as my sister once was. I can teach you what I know."

Kagome's eyes shot back to Kaede. That would be perfect. But why would she offer?

"Not to sound ungrateful, but why do you offer?"

"Child, you are the holder and protector of the most coveted magical item of all time. You have to be prepared for any and all circumstances. I am a priestess that cares for the welfare of all peoples. I believe it is in all of our best interests for you to be properly trained."

Kagome knew she was being honest and relaxed instantly, "I would be thrilled to have you train me until I can figure out how to get home. This will sound crazy, but I believe that this time period is five hundred years in the past from when I come from. Oh, that statement hurt my head."

Kaede chuckled softly, "I've seen and heard of many strange things happening. The bone eaters well holds strong magic. If you're here, it is for a reason. Shall we start training today?"

Kagome nodded but realized she needed time to sort through her thoughts, "Can I have some time to walk and think?"

"Of course, Kagome. Take a bow with you, just in case."

Kagome nodded and left the hut, grabbing a bow and a quiver full of arrows that were resting on the side of the structure. She walked blindly, not paying attention to her surroundings until she felt a calm presence permeate through her very marrow. She raised her head and realized she was at the goshinboku tree again. She ran her hand over its familiar surface and sighed. She sank down and sat with her back against its trunk. She wanted to weep, she was weary as hell of all the craziness that had consumed her life in the past three days. It was insane. She started to consider her feelings for Sesshomaru. They were quickly becoming all-encompassing. She sat for nearly fifteen minutes in relative silence with her eyes closed and tried to sort through the mess of her life.

A cool and powerful aura brushed against her senses and startled her. Delight spread through her entire body as she registered its familiarity. It was Sesshomaru. She opened her eyes and he stood before her in a way she'd never seen him before. He was devastatingly beautiful. He wore a white kimono that had red honeycombs patterned on it. He was wearing armor and had two sheathed swords hanging from his waist. His hair flowed around him in a silver halo, as beautiful and silky as always. His eyes were ice cold. They scared her a bit, she'd never seen him look so ruthless and dangerous. She wanted to run her hands through his hair and kiss every inch of him.

She smiled softly at him and spoke gently, "Sesshomaru."

He stiffened at the sound of her voice. It was silken and sounded like sweet, gentle, chiming bells. It was so unlike most humans. He took in her appearance. She was human, obviously, and yet she was beautiful. Her hair was ebony and her skin was creamy porcelain. Her lips were soft and plump and her scent was intoxicating. She was wearing and odd outfit that showed off copious amounts of her skin that was so unlike human women. He had felt her power from miles away. She was teeming with spiritual power, and he had wanted to meet the creature that held such a wealth of power. Curiosity was one of his baser instincts that he'd never learned to quell. He had intended to just look in and leave but the image of her sitting peacefully at the base of the sacred tree had drawn him in. Before he had realized what he was doing, he was standing in front of her and her eyes were open and she'd spoken his name.

What a lovely voice she had. But how did she know him? He grabbed his sword and leveled it at her throat in the blink of an eye. She didn't move an inch, but her face set into a scowl.

"Really. Is that necessary? Put that away, Sesshomaru. God, you're just as flammable as usual." She sounded amused by the thought.

"That's Lord Sesshomaru to you, Miko. How do you know this Sesshomaru?"

She realized at once that, of course, he wouldn't know her. They hadn't met yet. Idiot. She didn't know what to tell him, so she tried to sound vague without triggering his temper.

"From another time, another place."

He eyed her skeptically, but didn't move his sword.

"Really, drop the damn sword, Sesshomaru. I'm not going to attack you, and unless you're going to kill me, which I wouldn't suggest, you may as well drop it."

He bristled at her command. She laughed and the sound sent warmth throughout his body.

"You once told me that you're not fond of taking orders. Now I realize how true that is. Okay fine, I'll ask politely. Sesshomaru, will you please drop the sword? I mean you no harm. I just want to talk with you."

He regarded her cautiously, but couldn't sense any deception in her words. He sheathed his sword, cocked his head to the side, and hitched an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to speak. She began to giggle again and he wondered why she seemed so damned amused.

"You do that now, too?"

Sesshomaru noticed that she was talking about time. She had been since she'd opened her mouth. He considered her words; from another time and you do that now. His curiosity was running rampant over this small female.

"You said you know this Sesshomaru. From a different time. Is this not your time?"

"Well fuck, you catch on fast." Her eyebrows shot to hair line and a small smile was tucked into the corner of her mouth. She continued speaking, it sounded, to him, as if she was talking to herself.

"I think, in my time, you're the only one who understands me. The only one who cares enough to protect me, but I haven't decided yet whether you're just doing it out of duty or if you actually care."

He pondered over her words. She thought that he, a future he, cared about her. He couldn't understand how he could feel anything for a human, except annoyance. But there was something in the back of his mind that was nagging at him. His beast, he realized, with surprise. His beast was growling at him, trying to communicate something with him.

"When are you from, miko?"

"My name is Kagome. Five hundred years from now, give or take a few." She studied him, looking for any hint of emotion or thought on his face. He kept himself well governed, mostly. She saw surprise, confusion, doubt, and then acceptance. Then his face went blank again. She wanted to laugh at his antics, his supreme ability to hide his thoughts from everyone, except, apparently her.

"I see that you believe me. You usually do trust my word. I haven't lied to you yet. Would you like to sit? I can tell you have some questions, we might be here for a while", she stated gently, with a luminescent smile on her lips.

He felt himself complying with little resistance. He gracefully sat in front of her with his legs crossed.

She laughed again, and when she saw his murderous expression she explained her amusement, "I was told that in this time period you are a great lord who would murder anyone before blinking an eye. I also heard that your temper was high, which is true in my time as well, but I see you're still the same way around me. Curious, isn't it?"

He studied her, not comprehending her meaning. He didn't know how he acted around her in the future. And he couldn't begin to explain his actions around her now.

"How do I act around you, in your time?" He pushed the question out brusquely.

"Oh, you're quite sweet. Very sarcastic. Always looking out for me, protecting me. You make me tea and let me wear your clothes, you cook for me and have protected me numerous time."

"But why would I do that? Those are the actions of a mate."

His statement sent a shockwave through them both. Kagome stared at him and wondered if that's how he saw her.

'Is that why he's always being kind, taking care of me, and can't keep his hands off me?' She thought curiously.

She felt her body convulse slightly as she broke into fits of laughter.

He stared at her, mildly concerned that she was dying, mostly due to the fact that he wouldn't get his answers if she died.

"Oh my god. It all makes sense now. That's why you hate Inuyasha so much. Oh gods, when I tell you, obviously in 500 years, you're going to have a fit and ignore me for days. I know it."

She broke into another bout of hysterics. He stared at her, his anger rising. He broke in through her laughter, his words fueled by anger.

"Why would I mate you? You're a human, a weak, helpless, human."

Her laughter died abruptly.

"Oh yeah? Try me, big man. I don't think I can kill you, but I'm not weak."

She got to her feet and faced him as he rose.

"Push your yoki against me."

He cocked an eyebrow at her, angry she was giving him orders again, but curious as to what she was trying to prove. He complied. He pushed his yoki out and surrounded her with it. Her breath caught and a red flush rose in her face. She pushed back his yoki with her reiki and her aura welled around him and engulfed his own. Surprise registered on his face, then it was gone as he focused his energy into his yoki. He flared it outward and pushed against her. She grinned and pushed back harder. They kept pushing, back and forth, reaching new heights. Their aura's whirled around them in a green and magenta spiral, picking up leaves and creating a tunnel around them. Kagome was laughing softly in delight. When Kagome showed signs of weakness he started to lower his yoki and bring it back into himself. She did the same and sat down with a sigh and a smile on her face.

Sesshomaru was lost in his thoughts. He had never met a human with this much power, and had never met a demoness that was her equal. They were either beautiful and weak, or they were strong and were conniving bitches. Both groups annoyed him endlessly and none of them could hold a candle to this woman in front of him. He lowered himself back into a sitting position and studied her. She was beautiful, had considerable backbone, was extremely powerful and had an interesting personality. She was not afraid of him in the least. In fact, she seemed to revel in his presence. She was sure of herself, enough to challenge him. She knew that he wouldn't kill her during the challenge, though he wasn't sure how she knew, when he himself didn't know why she'd been able to withstand him and his yoki.

Sesshomaru's thoughts were derailed as he felt Inuyasha's aura brush up against his own. He let out a growl and turned to stand protectively in front of Kagome. She bristled as she realized who the intruder was.

"Come out from hiding, half breed."

A tree a rustled and Inuyasha leapt out of it and onto the ground about fifteen feet away. He felt Kagome's unease at Inuyasha's proximity and Sesshomaru wondered what he'd done to earn her distrust, and he yearned to soothe her, something he hadn't felt in decades. He stood in front of her, blocking her from Inuyasha's view.

"What do you want?" He growled it out. Inuyasha bristled and they both felt his temper rising and his aura flair.

"The girl is mine. She has something I want. You can have her when I'm finished."

Sesshomaru snarled viciously at Inuyasha's claim on the woman. She would not belong to him. She belongs to me! He was surprised at his own thoughts; that he should already have a claim over the woman. His beast seemed to snarl a little louder in his head. Before he could respond to Inuyasha, Kagome exploded next to him. Her reiki shot out wildly and he could smell the fury rolling off of her. She flitted around Sesshomaru and began to scream at Inuyasha.

"I do not belong to you anymore! Never again! Keep the fuck away from me! You are a despicable son of a-"

She broke off as Sesshomaru grabbed her around the waist and hauled her back against him, stopping her from advancing on Inuyasha. She felt a rumbling in Sesshomaru's chest and she realized that Sesshomaru was chuckling softly. The sound calmed her and she spoke again, more calm, but with no less venom then before.

"You stay away from me Inuyasha. I mean it. You will never get the jewel! Never."

Kagome felt Sesshomaru stiffen at the mention of the jewel. Inuyasha's face held genuine pain at her words. She had no doubt that he'd been called worse things, and it made her a bit uneasy to see that her words had hurt him. The Inuyasha she knew, didn't care about what he was called, he just threw tantrums and screamed when he felt he'd been wronged. Something about him in this time was different. It wasn't right, wasn't normal.

He turned to leave and Kagome knew that he wasn't going far, but just far enough to be away from them, but close enough to follow her when she left. Sesshomaru turned her around in his arms and stared at her with obvious confusion in his eyes.

"What did he do to you, Kagome?"

Kagome shivered at the sound of her name on his lips. She broke off their gaze and stared at his chest. He raised a hand to her chin and lifted her gaze back to his.

"He attacked me, a few days ago. In my time. We had been dating for a few months, and he tried to…he tried to have sex with me without my permission. He almost made me, against my will."

Sesshomaru felt fury settle into his bones. He gripped Kagome tighter. He'd kill him. Slowly and painfully.

"How did you get away?"

A slow, sly smile spread across her face, "You saved me. You were following us, and you stopped him before he could hurt me."

All at once, all of her claims about his actions toward her, felt right. His emotions began flooding his mind. Her scent filtered into his nose and he realized that she smelled of roses and honey. Her blue eyes were staring into his and they held nothing back. They showed a depth of emotion that terrified him, but pulled him in closer. He felt like he was drowning in her azure gaze. He lowered his head slowly to her throat and nuzzled the soft skin. He pressed his lips to the place where her pulse throbbed. Her breathing turned ragged and her scent spiked. He ran his tongue across the sensitive skin and dragged one of his fangs over her delicate skin. She moaned softly and he raised his head to kiss her.

A voice broke the moment and Kagome jumped in his arms, "Kagome. Are you coming to the lesson?"

It was Kaede. Fuck, Kagome thought. She had forgotten all about the lesson. She looked at Sesshomaru and smothered a laugh in his chest. He did no look happy to have been interrupted.

"I'm coming. I'll meet you at your hut in a bit!" She called out to Kaede. They listened as her footfalls grew quieter with her departure.

"That's Kaede. She's teaching me how to control my powers and how to be a priestess. I have to go with her."

Noticing that he didn't release her or respond, she laughed again and tried another tactic.

"Do you want to come with me?"

He eyed her curiously, realizing that she wasn't trying to make an excuse or get rid of him. He sighed and released her. He nodded and followed her as she walked toward where the woman had called from. As they were walking he remembered that Inuyasha had brought up the jewel to her. He seemed to think that Kagome was in possession of it.

"Kagome, why did Inuyasha believe that you have the sacred jewel?"

He eyed her studiously, looking for any trace of deception.

"Because I do." She saw that this piqued his curiosity, she laughed and elaborated.

"It's a part of me. I didn't even know it was there until today. Apparently when I was born it was inside me. You probably can't sense it because its power is the same as my reiki. I think that's why I've never noticed it before."

He stared at her, realizing that she was growing more complex by the minute. She eyed him curiously and a bit of fear started to seep out of her. He didn't like it.

"You don't want the jewel, do you?"

He scowled at her, "Why would I need the jewel? I'm the strongest demon alive, next to my father."

She relaxed immediately and he wondered if she thought he'd try to kill her for the jewel, like his half-brother had wanted to. They made their way to the village silently and Kagome led him to a small hut in a human village. The villagers that happened to be milling about were watching Sesshomaru with obvious fear on their faces. They scuttled away with haste, probably wondering what their precious reincarnation was doing with a demon of such heightened power.

Kaede was standing outside of her hut with obvious surprise written on her face. Kagome saw it and laughed. She motioned for Kaede to proceed. She led the way to a hill just outside the village. She looked at Kagome then sent a pointed glance to Sesshomaru. Kagome laughed again.

"Don't mind him. We know each other from my time and I've managed to convince him of the truth. He's just going to stay and watch. Quietly."

She said the last with a lift of her eyebrow and a pointed glance. He scowled at her and she laughed again. He sat some ten feet away and watched as they commenced her training. He took every detail of her in and couldn't look away. She was growing more beautiful to him by the minute and he felt his arousal start to flow through him. Watching her was heaven and torture all at once. She was powerful but also painfully under-trained. She needed combat training, obviously. He wondered if he'd already offered to teach her in the future. Probably. Knowing himself, he was probably terrified at the idea of leaving her alone for any amount of time, no matter how small.

He watched as they trained for over an hour and he made small comments and suggestions to her about posture or breathing at times. Kaede watched him with obvious surprise and warmth. He didn't like it. She obviously had heard of his reputation and was surprised to find him here and being amicable. When the sun started to set, Kaede called an end to the practice and told Kagome they'd train again tomorrow morning and at the same time in the evening. While Kaede was walking away, she turned back to see that Kagome was not following her back to village. Kagome looked toward Sesshomaru and he nodded at her.

"Kaede, I'll catch up in a while. We still have some things to talk about."

She nodded, smiled, and kept walking back toward the village. Kagome walked to where Sesshomaru was sitting and plopped down with a groan. She collapsed fully and rested her head on the ground and stared at the setting sun. Sesshomaru searched her face and saw that she was weary and tired. He could imagine how taxing it would be for her to be attacked by someone she trusted, then thrust back in time in a matter of days. She was strong, but not infallible.

"How did you get here?" His voice was soft and it surprised him. He was never soft with anyone. Ever.

She chuckled softly, "Now that is a good story. You and I went to my family's shrine to pick up some protective spells. After we left the house you wanted to look at our well house. You said you felt power coming from inside the building so I took you to have a look at it." She paused and broke into laughter. The sound brought a small smile to his face and he continued to watch her as she elaborated further.

"As soon as we walked through the damn door you jumped me Sesshomaru." Her gaze turned soft and she stared off into nothing. Sesshomaru didn't understand her phrase 'jumped me'.

"What does that mean", he asked, slightly annoyed that he didn't know. She laughed again and colored from head to toe. The blush was rosy and made her skin look absolutely succulent.

Her voice was soft and trembling as she explained, "You grabbed me into your arms and pushed me up against the wall. You started… you kissed me."

Her voice trailed off softly and he could tell she was lost in the memory. It was obviously one she enjoyed. Her scent shifted and he could smell her arousal. It fueled his own and in seconds he was harder than a rock.

She shivered slightly as a cool breeze swept over them. He removed his haori, lifted her off the ground and into his lap, and put her into the garment like she was a child. She complied with his attentions and felt his scent surround her and the heat from his body seeped into her, making her feel warm and safe.

Realizing that she hadn't finished her story she continued dreamily, "You jumped away from me like you were on fire and apologized for mauling me. I moved to sit on the well while you walked around the room and we talked a bit. Then out of nowhere light sprang into the room and you tried to get to me but the light- I think it was my aura- pushed you away. When it rebounded back to me, it knocked me into the well. I kept falling and falling and when I landed I was at the bottom of the bone eaters well here. I had no idea how I'd gotten here or where the hell I was. When I climbed out of the well I realized I wasn't in my time anymore. I wandered into the forest and found Inuyasha. I'm sure you've figured out the rest."

He stared down at her, resting calmly in his arms. She seemed at peace and there was no fear in her voice or posture, nor could he smell any coming off of her. He could only smell calm and happiness coming from her.

As the sun went down fully she sat up quickly and looked to the other side of the sky. She calmed a bit as she saw a half moon hanging in the sky. She let out a deep sigh and relaxed against him. He raised an eyebrow at her and she laughed softly.

"You were in heat when I left, and tonight was supposed to be a full moon. You were being a bit overprotective toward me. You didn't want to be with me because you were afraid you'd jump me and you didn't want to leave me alone because you didn't want any other demons to try and take me. You were a bit all consumed with the idea of anyone getting near me, to be honest."

He smirked at her, "Of course I was. Can't have anyone touching what's mine." He caught the mistake too late. He saw on her face that she was partially pleased at his words but mostly shocked that he'd said that.

"I've known you for months and we've been in close proximity for days and you've never said anything like that to me. And now that I'm five hundred years in the past and you've known me for a few hours you're laying claim to me? What the hell Sesshomaru?"

He shrugged, "A demon always knows when he's found what's his." He couldn't bring himself to call her his mate yet. He still hadn't fully brought himself to terms with the idea.

"And I know for a fact that I was thinking it. I'm probably just avoiding the truth and don't want to scare you off. Or hurt you. Those are all viable options."

She stared at him, dumbfounded, with her mouth hanging open.

"My head hurts from that statement. So you, right now, are laying claim. To me. And you, in the future, have already laid claim to me, even though you won't admit it to me or yourself and if anyone touches me you're likely to kill them?"

He nodded and she sighed in exasperation.

"Why can't you just say what you mean? Ever. I mean damn, Sesshomaru, this is confusing."

"I can't explain, but I can show you."

He lowered his head to hers and latched his mouth onto hers. She groaned into his mouth and turned in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips. He licked into her mouth and she pressed closer to him. He searched her mouth with his tongue, trying to learn every piece of her. She tasted divine and he wanted to touch every inch of her. His hands slid down her sides and he wound them around her and grabbed her ass and pulled her closer to him. She ground against him and groaned into his mouth again. She reciprocated with heightened fervor. Her tongue clashed with his and she nipped at his lower lip with her teeth. He growled in pleasure and brought them down to the grass. She gasped at the change in sensation and he ran his hand up her front and cupped her breast. She moaned heavily as he began to caress her nipple through the fabric of her clothes with the pad of his thumb. Her heart was hammering in her chest and he groaned as she pressed up into him.

He made to pull her breast from its confines when sound started to filter into his ears. He froze and focused on the sound and cursed flagrantly. Kagome looked up into his eyes and they held confusion.

"Something's wrong. I hear screaming in the village."

Kagome's eyes widened and in a second she had rolled from beneath him, leapt to her feet and took off sprinting for the village. He caught up with her in less than a second and snatched her into his arms and took off for the village. He didn't care what happened to the village, but he knew she did. He knew she would be upset if anything happened to the villagers. And though he couldn't understand why it mattered to him, he knew he didn't want her to feel that way.

As they entered the village Kagome's eyes widened and she yelled at Sesshomaru to set her down. He did and she stood rooted and looked at what was hell come to earth. There were demons everywhere. They were ripping the roofs off of the huts and tearing people out. Buildings were on fire and people were screaming and running in fear. Many of the villagers were attempting to fight the demons and Kagome saw there were dead bodies strewn across the entire village. Kagome noticed that there was an odd cloud of purple miasma in the center of the village. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed in blood lust as he saw who was standing in the center of the village. He was controlling the demons and looking straight at Kagome with obvious interest. Sesshomaru's blood boiled as him began to stride toward her with purpose. As he approached, Sesshomaru stepped in front of Kagome to protect her.

The man smiled wickedly and Sesshomaru snarled out his name, "Naraku."

...

Thank you for reading. Stay tuned for more twists and turns. Next chapter we go back to Sesshomaru in the present. I hope, as always, that you enjoyed!


	6. Chapter 6: Memories Resurface

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagome meets feudal era Touga and Sesshomaru learns about his past.

As always, enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA! THIS STORY IS FOR MATURE ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY!

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Sesshomaru felt fear roll through him for the first time in decades as he saw that the well was empty and Kagome was gone. He vaulted over the side of the well and dropped gracefully to the bottom. He examined every inch of the well and noticed the Kagome's scent was gone. Panic shot through him. He had no idea what was going on and his beast started to howl and throw himself against the quickly decaying walls of the cage that Sesshomaru usually had him in. Sesshomaru could feel his nerves begin to fray and knew he would lose control soon if he didn't get control of himself.

He leapt out of the well and started to pace back and forth. He attempted to get his yoki under control, as it was whirling around him dangerously and growing in ferocity. Sesshomaru heard the door open and he turned to it with a vicious growl in his throat. He calmed minutely as he saw it was Kagome's mother. She raised a brow at him and had a sly smile on her face. Sesshomaru knew instantly that she knew. She knew what was going on and he couldn't help but notice that her knowing look resembled his father's.

"Where is she", he growled out.

Her smile grew, "She'll be back. In a week I believe. It's better for her to be there. She won't be in danger from the full moon."

Seeing Sesshomaru's confusion, she laughed and elaborated vaguely, "You'll remember soon enough. Go see your father. He will tell you everything you need to know."

She stepped out of the well house and to the side and watched as Sesshomaru snarled, ran from the well house, and burst into his true demonic form. She gasped at the sight. He was the largest demon she'd ever seen. He was a huge dog demon with magenta stripes and a lavender moon on his forehead. His fur was the purest ivory color she'd ever seen and it reminded her of an undisturbed field of snow. His tail flowed behind him and his eyes glowed like bloody rubies in his face. His fangs were massive and she knew that she would be no match for his strength.

Sesshomaru took off into the sky and took distance eating strides toward the valley that lay at the base of the western mountains. He snarled at himself, the situation and the fact that he had no idea where Kagome was. He knew in his marrow that Kagome was his mate and there was no way to avoid the truth, especially when he was in his beast form. He'd been denying the raw attraction between them for days and it was beginning to feel like he would explode if he didn't make her his mate. He was furious with himself that he'd lost control. He almost never burst into his demonic form from rage. It had been quite a long time since he'd lost control to this measure.

As he neared the estate he saw his father standing on the front lawns with his phone to his ear. Sesshomaru perked his ears up to catch the last of his conversation.

"Yes, I see him now. He's in quite a temper too, thank you for that, Mz. H. I'll call you after he leaves." With that he hung up his phone and dropped it into his pocket. He looked up to Sesshomaru and shook his head with a smile on his face. Sesshomaru landed in front of him nearly fifteen feet away. Toga let out a deep husky laugh that made Sesshomaru furious.

How could he be laughing at a time like this?

Sesshomaru let out a growl of anger and Toga raised his brow at him. Toga understood Sesshomaru's words, even though he was in his human form. Most upper level demons that rivaled Sesshomaru and Toga's power could understand their native tongue while in human form, but there were very few demons with such power.

"Oh don't growl at me, boy. I am still your father. Show me the respect I deserve."

Sesshomaru let out a string of growls and curses, "What are you keeping from me? What the fuck is going on?"

Toga rolled his eyes, "Are you going to stay like that, or shall we talk as mature adults?"

Sesshomaru growled venomously and Toga shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine. It's been quite a while since I've sparred. We'll see if you've learned anything in the last hundred years."

Toga removed his phone from his pocket and took off his jacket. He tossed the items to the side where they wouldn't get damaged. He snarled and transformed into his dog-demon form. Sesshomaru knew he was biting off more than he could chew. He'd never beaten his father at sparring, but he was too angry to see straight.

Sesshomaru noted the difference immediately. When he had landed, he had towered over his father. He had been nearly ten times his height. Now his father stood at least twenty feet taller than him. His father wasn't the king for no reason. He was of royal blood, yes, but the sheer fact that he was ruthless and undefeatable on the battlefield had kept a myriad of enemies from attempting to usurp his throne.

Sesshomaru circled his father and growled in frustration.

"Where is she?"

Toga let out a husky laugh, "Not yet. You're not sufficiently calm. When you are, I will tell you."

Sesshomaru growled in fury. No one refused him anything. He always found a way to get what he wanted and he wouldn't let his father hold this from him any longer. He was hiding something, something important, from his own son.

"What are you hiding from me, and why?" Sesshomaru's patience was waning and he was a hair's breadth away from leaping at his father.

"She asked me to, son. And it's for the greater good."

Sesshomaru's patience snapped and he lunged forward. His father moved to jump out of the way, but Sesshomaru saw it coming and zagged at the last minute and swiped one of his giant paws across Toga's chest. Toga growled viciously and rolled away. Ruby droplets spilled over Toga's luscious silver fur. Toga glanced down at the sight and a mixture of fury and pride filled his eyes. He dashed around sesshomaru caught one of his hind legs in his great maw and threw his body against Sesshomaru's. Sesshomaru yelped in surprise and fell with a resounding thud onto the ground. He used his free hind paw to swipe at togas face and felt the fur and skin of Toga's muzzle tear under his claws. Sesshomaru rolled them and attempted to clamp his jaws around Toga's throat, a sign of submission to the alpha, but Toga kicked out at Sesshomaru's belly. The blow connected with bruising force and Sesshomaru knew he'd be hurting for a few days. Sesshomaru went flying off of Toga and landed on the ground again with a loud crash. Toga leapt up and bound toward Sesshomaru. He lowered his head with lightning speed and caught Sesshomaru's throat in his teeth. He applied enough pressure to get the point across, but not enough to damage him.

"Enough, son", Toga growled ferociously.

Sesshomaru nodded almost imperceptibly and Toga released him and stepped away. Slowly, Toga transformed back into his humanoid form. Sesshomaru stood and did the same. Fury was still rolling through him, but Sesshomaru felt a sense of calm wash over him that could only come from one source; his alpha. Sesshomaru knew that his father, as king and alpha, would protect his family and his pack. Sesshomaru also knew that Kagome was considered pack and that Toga loved her like a daughter and would go to any lengths to protect her.

Sesshomaru followed Toga as he led the way into the house. The estate was built on the grounds of the original manor of the Lord of the West. It technically belonged to Sesshomaru, but he much preferred to live in the city, close to his company. Toga lived in the estate when he wasn't running their 'kingdom'. As the prince of the Inu tribe, Sesshomaru was the Lord of the West and he was accountable to no one, except his father. His heirs would take the title from him when they came of age, once he was king. Sesshomaru wasn't particularly fond of the idea that one day he'd have to rule over all of the inu and take his fathers place at the head of human and demon relations, but he knew it was his duty, and he always fulfilled his obligations.

Toga led them into the study and went to a cupboard near a bookshelf. He pulled out a small box, a book, two glasses, and a bottle of old bourbon. Pouring them both a liberal mount, he retrieved the glasses and brought one to Sesshomaru. They lowered themselves into chairs and Sesshomaru took up his glass and took a long swallow. He sat quietly with one eyebrow raised, indicating that his father should start explaining.

"This is going to sound a little crazy, but I know you have a high tolerance for odd things. Around five hundred years ago, you came to me and you had a woman with you. You said that you'd found your mate and that you didn't give a damn what I thought about it", Toga laughed deeply and his eyes twinkled as he was lost in the memory. Sesshomaru's brows were in his hairline. He didn't remember any of this.

Toga continued on, sounding amused, "At first I had reservations. First of all, she was human, and a miko at that. I told you that you could mate an inu demoness and take her as a mistress but the second it was out of my mouth, the girl practically exploded with rage. It was quite a sight. She stormed up to me and told me she knew her worth and she would be no ones bitch. Gods, she was enchanting. She even poked me in the chest! What a little spit fire. She said that she didn't know a single demoness that could hold a candle to her power." A large smile spread across his face and he chuckled softly.

"Your mother was there at the time and she was volcanic at the insinuation that this child was stronger than her. The girl told your mom that she was stronger then her and she'd be more than happy to prove it. You hid your feelings fairly well in those days, but even you looked nauseous at the idea of her and your mother battling. You allowed it though, as did I. I assumed you knew that as your mate she'd have to prove herself eventually, and if she could best the strongest female inu on record, that it would do wonders for you both. They squared up and began a battle of wills, and I tell you what, I've never seen anything like it to this day. Her aura whipped around her viciously and she was right. Your mother couldn't hold a candle to her. She knocked her flat on her ass with only her aura. After that I took you both to talk a little and I knew she was the one for you. You were positively smitten with her and it was the most unusual sight. You smiled, a lot. It was entirely out of character."

Toga paused, obviously allowing Sesshomaru to consider what he'd been told. Sesshomaru's mind raced with the possibilities that so many things could have happened without him remembering. He fought harder to remember and bits and pieces of images started to filter into his memory. His mother's face, flushed and furious, Toga's smile and forever elusive images of a woman with black hair and porcelain skin.

Toga began again sounding more grave than before, derailing Sesshomaru's thoughts, "While we talked, she told me that an enemy had been pursuing you both because she was carrying the sacred jewel. She said that she wasn't sure when he would surface again but she was getting a bad feeling, like he was drawing nearer. I told her that I would handle it and dispatch of the enemy. After you left, I looked into the enemy and found a wealth of information that was all very disturbing. Before I was able to set a plan into motion to dispatch of the nuisance, she returned to the estate without you. She gave me this book", he held up Love Through the Era's, "and told me to continue to vaguely document your history throughout time. She said we would meet again eventually and that you wouldn't remember anything. She said the the enemy had found her and that he was going to kill you if she didn't give him the jewel, so she decided to leave, and go back to her time. She convinced you to drink some sort of potion that erased her entirely from your memory. Around the same time, Inuyasha changed. He became more heartless than I'd ever seen him. During my research I found that he'd fallen in love with a human miko, the protector of the sacred jewel. He was going to use the jewel to become human and live with her. The day that he was to make the wish, she betrayed him and tried to kill him, but it wasn't her. It was the same enemy that threatened your woman. The same day, the demon disguised himself as Inuyasha and attacked the woman. He wounded her fatally and in a last attempt to save the jewel, she sealed the real Inuyasha to the sacred tree. She died shortly after and they burned the jewel with her."

Sesshomaru knew that this all had something to do with Kagome, but he was waiting, impatiently, for his father to get to the point.

"Fifty years after he was sealed to the tree, your woman stumbled upon him and freed him. You met her the same day. It only took you a day or two to realize that she was your mate and then you brought her to me. The day after that was when she brought me the book, and the day after that, she was gone. No one could find her. Her enemy, Naraku, dropped off the map entirely."

Sesshomaru stiffened at the name. He knew that man. He was positive he knew him. The memories were flooding into his brain at a painful pace.

"When Kagome walked into our house six months ago, I nearly had a heart attack. I knew at once she didn't remember me, because she hadn't fallen into the well yet. That's where she is, Sesshomaru. That's where the well took her. It took her to you."

"I couldn't believe it. She was there with Inuyasha and I knew by the look on your face that you wanted her. I knew you didn't know why, but I figured you'd get around to it. I never expected Inuyasha to attack her. I thought she could handle herself against him, but I forgot that she wouldn't be trained until she fell into the well."

Sesshomaru's mind was drowning in thoughts. His father picked up the small box and handed it to Sesshomaru. Toga glanced out the window and noticed that the sun had set and that the full moon had finally risen.

Sesshomaru opened the box with shaking hands and it had a few items inside it. There was a small necklace with an ivory moon pendant, a piece of silk fabric from a woman's kimono, two locks of hair; one silver and one ebony, and a small marble-sized cake.

"I hope the spell is still good. She said if I didn't open the box that the cake would stay good until you had to eat it. It's been five hundred years, though, I hope she was right." Toga eyed the small round cake dubiously, grabbed it from the box and set it in Sesshomaru's hand.

"Eat it, and you should remember everything."

Sesshomaru's gaze flitted between the cake and his father for at least a minute before he popped the thing in his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed. Searing, white hot pain shot through him and he felt like his head would crack open. He slid out of his chair and dropped to the ground bonelessly, writhing in pain as million of memories and images flowed into his brain. It was like dam breaking and the water flowed dangerously fast into his brain. His eyes rolled back into his head and he shook with the effort to stay conscious. Toga saw that Sesshomaru's body was shimmering and attempting to shift into his demon form.

"Fuck. You will not destroy my study, Sesshomaru", he grumbled to himself as he lifted Sesshomaru off the ground and tossed him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

He ran for the door and in seconds they were in the back gardens. Toga set Sesshomaru on the ground and watched Sesshomaru writhe in pain for minutes on end. Finally, Sesshomaru's eyes snapped open and in seconds he had shifted into his demon form. He took off from the garden and into the nearby forest. Toga shifted and followed after him at breakneck speed. Toga's ears perked up as he heard Sesshomaru's howls.

Sesshomaru ran as fast as he could toward the well and howled into the night. It took him half the time to reach the shrine then it had to make the journey to the estate. He tore through the clearing, past the sacred tree and to the well house. He sat outside the well house and rose his head to the moon. Kagome's mother ran out of the house just as Toga arrived. The two watched Sesshomaru as he howled, in agony, into the night.

\---

Kagome stared dumbly at the carnage before her. Screams tore through the night and mixed with the snarls of demons. A man with cold beauty was at the center of the mayhem and when he saw Kagome, his eyes narrowed and a malevolent smile grew on his face. He began to walk toward her and she was struck with fear at what she saw. A dark and evil aura pooled around him like acid and burned everything in its wake. His eyes were hollow and she knew there was no good in this man. As he grew near, Sesshomaru stationed himself between them. Kagome heard Sesshomaru growl venomously and a name fell from his mouth.

"Naraku." It was said with such hatred that Kagome felt chills roll down her spine.

Naraku's voice was soft, but it grated on her senses like nails on a chalk board, "Give me the girl."

Sesshomaru snarled viciously in response and created a poison green colored whip out of his yoki. Kagome was trying to think of something she could do to keep Sesshomaru from harm, but also to get rid of this demon. She looked around frantically for something she could use to defend herself and her eyes landed on a bow and arrow and she wondered if she could wield it properly. A memory sprang into her mind and she heard her mother's voice. The memory was from a lesson she had been giving Kagome about why archery was important to master.

She had told Kagome, "You can store your reiki in the arrow and it can purify demons on contact, or do considerable damage. It will be one of your most valuable weapons, Kagome."

She whispered to Sesshomaru before dashing for the bow, "Distract him."

Sesshomaru sent her a sideways glance, but she was already gone. Sesshomaru saw Naraku's eyes following Kagome and he flicked his wrist and wrapped his whip around Naraku's throat and tugged.

"You will have to go through me to get her."

Naraku smiled sinisterly and reached for the whip at his throat. He couldn't hide a twitch of pain as the poison from the whip burned his skin. He unwound the whip and tossed it back toward Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru noted with pleasure that he had burns around his throat. Sesshomaru flicked the whip again and it grazed Naraku's chin. It was just to taunt, to anger the demon and it worked. Naraku's eyes filled with fury and he lunged at Sesshomaru with his arm outstretched, as if to grab him. Sesshomaru noticed, a second too late, that Naraku's arm had elongated and was now shaped like a sword and it was made of bone. It pierced Sesshomaru's left shoulder and Naraku drove it deeper. Sesshomaru saw, rather then felt, miasma leak out of the wound. Enraged, he grabbed his sword, unsheathed it, and sliced upward in a nearly invisible stroke. Naraku's arm was severed and he yowled in rage. Sesshomaru reached up to the arm, still embedded in his shoulder, and wrenched it out.

Naraku looked shocked for a moment before Sesshomaru spoke, "I've heard of your miasma. Unfortunately for you, it's not nearly as poisonous as the blood flowing through my veins."

Faster than Naraku could track, Sesshomaru leapt at him and dug his poison claws into Naraku's chest and let poison seep through him and into the wound he was inflicting. Naraku began to laugh maniacally and Sesshomaru's gaze darted to his. Naraku turned his other arm into a sword and sliced upward. It took Sesshomaru a few full seconds to realize what had happened. Naraku had severed Sesshomaru's arm above the elbow. The pain was intense, but Sesshomaru thought through it and conjured his whip again. He wrapped it around Naraku's throat and yanked, tightening the loop.

"You dare inflict damage on the Lord of the West? You disgusting half breed, I will be the one to end you-"

Before Sesshomaru could finish him off, he was knocked to the side by a wave of razors. A demoness with a fan in her hand had thrown a wave of razor shaped yoki at him on the wind. He snarled and saw that the woman had stationed herself between Sesshomaru and Naraku. She was protecting him.

He stood, bleeding freely from what was now a stub on his arm, "I've heard of you, Naraku. You've been sending demons by the horde into my lands and destroying thousands of my kin. I will be the one to defeat you-", he broke off as he saw Kagome behind the pair. She was standing on one of the hut's that wasn't burning. She had a bow in her hand and was firing off arrow after arrow into the horde of demons. The arrows streaked through the air drenched in magenta light. They cut through Naraku's miasma and purified the lower level demon on contact. He could tell that her aim was a bit off, but with the strength of her reiki, if she got it within five feet of a demon, they were incinerated. He watched her take out handfuls of demons before he remembered he was delivering threats. When he looked back down to Naraku, he was surprised to find that his wounds had healed and that he'd regrown his arm.

As he started to stalk toward him, Kagome's voice rang out clearly, "Do not move, Naraku."

The woman, Naraku, and Sesshomaru all froze. Sesshomaru's eyes darted to Kagome, who was now kneeling on the ground twenty feet from Naraku with her arrow aimed at where his heart would be. Pride scorched through Sesshomaru, tinged with fear. She was too close to him. Much too close. Naraku laughed evilly and threw up a small pink barrier that encompassed him and the woman. He began to walk toward Kagome and she loosed the arrow. Sesshomaru's jaw dropped as he saw the arrow go through Naraku's barrier and impaled him through the chest. Naraku looked down at the arrow with obvious surprise and then fury as he saw it began to purify the lower half of his body. The top half of his body remained intact as her reiki's light faded.

Sesshomaru and Kagome heard Naraku's startled whisper, "But I thought only Kikyo could..", he broke off in surprise.

He glanced up to Kagome with a wolfish grin and Sesshomaru's eyes followed to Kagome. A huge winged demon was gaining on her from behind with tremendous speed. It reached out sliced Kagome from shoulder blade to collar bone. Her scream wrenched through the air and Sesshomaru's heart felt like it was being ripped in two. His beast was screaming one word over and over in his head. Mate! He ran and caught her before she collapsed. Naraku was walking toward them and Kagome opened her eyes and stared at him.

"You'll..never get.. the jewel."

Before she passed out, a colossal wave of her reiki pulsed outward and tore through the village. All of the lower level demons were incinerated immediately and Sesshomaru heard Naraku howl in pain. Before Kagome fell into complete unconsciousness she heard Naraku's slimy voice ring in her ears, "I will be back for you, miko."

Her vision went black and she collapsed fully in Sesshomaru's arm. He felt her body go slack against him and panic overtook him. He looked around for the old woman and saw that she was walking toward the two with panic in her eyes. When she reached them, Sesshomaru nodded toward Kagome.

"Can you heal her?"

Kaede nodded and led the way to her hut, which was, thankfully completely intact. He followed her inside and laid Kagome on a pallet near the fire. Kaede began to grab supplies and make salves while Sesshomaru sat on the ground with Kagome's head in his lap. His thoughts were anarchy. He was sure that she was his mate. His beast had been howling in fury at her pain. His heart had wrenched in his chest when he saw that she was wounded. Only one bond could cause such strong feelings. He was certain that if she did't make it through this, he would be damn to a life of hatred. He would have to leave this village and go on a killing spree so gruesome that tales of it would be passed down for centuries.

He watched anxiously as Kaede removed Kagome's clothes and started to clean the wounds. When she was done, she turned to grab a salve and Sesshomaru lifted Kagome's wounds to his mouth. He licked along the torn edges of her skin and silently willed them to heal. He saw as the wound began to slowly heal. It didn't close completely, but it was much less gruesome now. He lowered Kagome and noticed that Kaede was staring at him with obvious shock. He raised an eyebrow at her and she quickly went back to what she was doing. She applied a salve and wrapped Kagome's wounds in a bandage cloth.

"She will be fine. She should wake in a few hours. She will be sore, but she will heal." Kaede's voice was gentle and it grated on his nerves. He didn't want gentle, he wanted revenge.

Sesshomaru settled Kagome back onto the pallet and pulled the furs over her. He made to leave, but Kaede cleared her throat. He turned to her with his eyebrow raised once again.

"You should let me put a salve on that arm. She won't be happy if she wakes to see you injured."

He looked down at Kagome's sleeping face, and knew that the old woman was right. He huffed, walked over to where she was kneeling, and sat down in front of her. He thrust what was left of his arm at her. She looked at it with an assessing gaze and began rifling through jars of herbs and medicines. As she began to apply the salve she tentatively began to speak to him.

"She may be able to heal that. Regrow it, I mean. She's very strong. I've seen some miko healers with the ability to regrow limbs and bring people back from the brink of death."

He looked at her with a blank face and she stopped talking. He was still grieving over the loss of his arm and he was hell bent on destroying the bastard that had taken it from him. He would be forever grateful to Kagome if she could regrow his arm, but he didn't know if she was ready yet. When Kaede had finished wrapping his arm, Sesshomaru walked out of the hut with purposeful strides. He had a few errands to run before Kagome woke up.

Kagome woke to the sounds of chickens, birds and the bustle of small village life. The sound of hammering also filled her ears. She sat up quickly as she remembered the attack on the village. She looked around wildly and found herself in Kaede's hut, bandaged, bruised and sore as hell. She groaned softly and was about to lay back down when she noticed a package lying next to her. She opened it to find a beautiful midnight blue and silver kimono inside. A note was folded and placed on top of the stunning garment. She reached out tenderly and grabbed the note and unfolded it.

Wear this

-Sesshomaru

She chuckled softly. Not super romantic, that one. She thought gently. The present was beautiful, though. She unfolded it and began to dress. As she was dressing she noticed considerable pain in her shoulder. She finished tying the elaborate garment and saw her clothes lying in torn tatters in the corner of the hut. She let out a frustrated sigh at the thought that she'd lost another pair of clothes to demons. She picked up the clothes and went to set them in the kimono's packaging when she noticed there was something still inside of it. It was a necklace. It was a beautiful ivory crescent moon shaped pendant. She gasped softly at its beauty and picked it up in her shaking hands. It was smooth and flawless. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

The sound of the door made her jump and she whirled to find Kaede walking into the hut. She walked up to Kagome with a tender smile on her face.

"I'm glad to see you up and about."

Kagome smiled, "I take it these bandages are your handy work?"

"Oh yes, but Sesshomaru helped with the healing process as well. Which reminds me, I have some news for you and I'd like to give you a little advice."

Kagome nodded and sat with Kaede on the floor. Kaede told Kagome how Sesshomaru lost his arm and began to explain to her that other miko's had the ability of healing. She believed that Kagome would be able to heal Sesshomaru's arm if she could focus hard enough. She explained the process to Kagome in detail and Kagome listened attentively. She thought that if there was anything she could do heal Sesshomaru's arm, she would do it in a heartbeat. When they had finished their discussion, Kaede gave Kagome some food and Kagome wolfed it down quickly. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten.

As she was finishing, she heard the door open again. She looked up to see Sesshomaru standing in the doorway as devastatingly handsome as normal. Her eyes fell on where his left arm used to be and her heart cracked at its absence. He had probably been in considerable pain last night, but instead of helping himself, he'd looked after her. She smiled softly at him. She was beginning to think she was in love with him. She wasn't entirely sure how it had rushed up on her so quickly, but she knew she'd have to wait to tell him. He'd run away as quick as possible if she told him her feelings now.

He gestured at her empty bowl, "Would you take a walk with me?"

She nodded, set the bowl down, grabbed the necklace off the pallet and joined him outside the hut. She looped her left arm through his right and they walked away from the village, to where Kaede had taken her to practice the night before. When they topped the hill, Kagome sank to the ground and sat gracefully. He sat as well and looked into her eyes. He didn't speak for a while, just took in the sight of her face and azure gaze.

"I'd like to discuss something with you. But before I do, I over-heard there was something you'd like to try." He raised an eyebrow at her and she giggled softly.

"You always did have conveniently good hearing. Yes, I'd like to try to heal your arm. May I?"

He nodded, but concern flashed through his eyes, "Are you sure you're ready?"

She nodded, reached out and removed his haori from his shoulders. He shivered almost imperceptibly at her touch, but she noticed it. A small smile was tucked in at the corners of her mouth. She removed the garment and lifted what was left of his arm. She frowned at the sight. It had been severed cleanly but it must have hurt like a bitch.

"Oh, Sesshomaru..", she trailed off, her voice sounded like she was in agony over the thought of him being injured. It sent warmth through his chest.

She raised her hands to his arm and settled her palms against his bicep and shoulder. She closed her eyes and focused as hard as she could. She envisioned his arm, healthy and intact, as it had been before the battle. She imagined her powers flowing through her hands and down into his arm and pictured her power spurring his body into new growth. She pushed her reiki out, gently and steadily. She heard Sesshomaru take in a quick breath and felt her hands begin to warm.

Sesshomaru watched Kagome and was enraptured in her. Her face was focused and serene. He watched as her hands began to glow and the light seemed to flow from her hands to his arm. As he watched, he saw a new arm begin to grow and materialize where the old one had been. Warmth flooded the area where his arm had been severed and in less then a minute a new, full arm, sat where a nub had been moments before. Kagome withdrew her hands from him but kept her eyes closed. She was terrified that she had failed. She jumped a little as she felt herself being pulled into his lap with two arms.

Her eyes sprung open and she snatched the wrist of his left arm and held it up to her eyes. He chuckled slightly at the look of surprise on her face. She turned to him and smiled deeply, with tears in her eyes. He shook off her hand and wound his arms around her, and pulled her tightly to him. She rested her cheek on his chest and sighed happily. He rested his chin on her head and breathed in her smell. They sat like this for a while. Content not to move or speak. Sesshomaru was eternally grateful that she'd healed his arm. He'd spend eternity trying to thank her properly.

Eventually Kagome drew her head back to look at him, "You said you had some things you wanted to talk about."

He nodded and brought one hand to her face to cup her chin, and the other he used to twirl her ebony tresses around his fingers.

"Do you like the kimono?" He asked softly. She blushed and averted her gaze.

"Yes, it's beautiful. I saw the necklace too. It's the most lovely thing I've ever seen. But, why did you give it to me?"

He searched her deep blue gaze with his own before answering, "It's a... betrothal gift of sorts. A male demon gives it to the one he wants to become his mate once she accepts his offer."

She stared into his eyes, searching for deception. She saw that, for once, all of Sesshomaru's walls were down. He was perfectly serious.

"You want me to be your mate?" Her voice wavered and caught.

"Yes", he said softly and caressed her cheek.

"But... But... why?"

He raised a brow at her and chuckled softly, "You were born to be my mate. My beast knew it the second I saw you. You're powerful, beautiful, and you have more backbone then any human I've ever met."

She continued to choke out stuttered words and he planted a soft kiss on her lips to hush her. She went silent and stared at him.

"But.. you... I-", she broke off abruptly as Sesshomaru leaned down and took her mouth with his.

He'd had enough of her rambling. This was a take no prisoners kiss. She groaned into his mouth as he licked into hers. He nipped at her lip and lowered her to the ground. He began to lick and nip her neck and collar bones. She was breathless and groaning as he sucked on her neck.

She laughed breathlessly, "Okay, enough! Yes, yes, I'll be your mate!"

He chuckled and smiled triumphantly. He took her mouth with his again and kissed her until he thought she'd pass out from lack of breath. She gulped in air as he reached around her to find the necklace in the grass. He draped it around her neck and tied it. She looked down at it, then up to him.

"It's beautiful."

"It's the sign of my people. We are lunar demons and the moon has been our sigil for as long as I remember."

They laid together in silence for a while before Kagome recalled the attack on the village the previous night.

"How do you know that demon, Naraku?

Sesshomaru stiffened at the name, "He's been sending droves of demons into every territory. They've been doing considerable damage to the four great lords lands. It seems he's been searching for the jewel. Unfortunately, he knows that you have it. We have not seen the last of him."

Kagome tried not to worry about it and aimed for humor instead, "Don't worry, Sesshomaru, I'll protect you." He growled at her playfully and rolled her in the grass.

They spent another hour on the hill. She chattered and sang while he watched her. Occasionally she would wander off to pick some wild flowers and he watched her constantly. Her smile was infectious and he wanted to keep her near at all times.

The next three days passed in a scheduled fashion. Kagome would wake, eat and go to training. Then her and Sesshomaru would spend an hour or two walking and she would explore the forests and fields surrounding Edo. After, they'd return to the village and Kagome would help the villagers with repairing their homes. Sesshomaru would disappear and go on 'errands', as he called them. She wasn't to curious as to where he went; she was sure he was taking care of his duties as the Lord of the West. An hour before sunset, Kaede and Kagome would train until either the sun finally set or until Kagome dropped with exhaustion. Sesshomaru was always present at her training. He liked to watch her progress. She was growing considerably stronger and her control over her reiki was becoming excellent. After training, Kagome and Sesshomaru would stay on the hill and she would look at the stars while Sesshomaru stared at her. She would usually sing to him and gather flowers at night. There was an unusual crop of moon flowers growing at the base of the hill. They only bloomed at night and they were lovely. Their scent was a mixture of roses and lilies and Kagome loved them. On the second night, Kagome tried to teach Sesshomaru how to dance. He was momentarily offended by the suggestion that he didn't already know how to dance.

"I know how to dance, woman", he had said.

Her eyebrows had shot to the sky, "You do? Who taught you?"

"My father, obviously. No Lord of the West can avoid learning how to dance. I'd look like a fool in front of the court if I didn't know."

A wistful expression covered her face, "Of course he did, that wonderful man. He's like a father to me, in my time."

A sweet smile lifted at her lips, "Dance with me?"

He'd gathered her into his arms and they'd danced slowly under the moonlight. He thought it was a bit foolish at first. There was no music and he usually didn't dance unless he was being forced to. But as he'd looked down at her face, full of happiness, he'd had to admit to himself that he was enjoying it. He felt that she belonged in his arms and he remarked that she danced fairly well.

On the third night, he'd told Kagome that tomorrow they'd have to visit his father. She'd seemed excited at the idea until he'd pointed out that Toga didn't know her yet.

"He doesn't know you, little one. He's practical, and I can promise you, he will not approve of me mating a human. I obviously couldn't give a damn, I'll do as I wish."

She snickered at that but her mood had soured at the idea that her father wouldn't approve of her. The Toga she knew loved her and spoiled her like she was a daughter.

On the fourth morning, after training, Kagome bathed then put on another new kimono that Sesshomaru had brought her. It was a lovely silver color with a midnight blue crescent moon hemmed to the skirt. She put her hair up in a traditional style and met Sesshomaru outside of Kaede's hut. They departed and she was surprised when Sesshomaru told her they'd be flying. He gathered her in his arms and took off into the sky. It was exhilarating. The landscapes before her were lovely and she would have loved to stare at them the whole way but she didn't get the chance.

A few minutes into their journey, Sesshomaru began to lecture her on how to act around his father. He told her to be respectful and never speak out. He had pointedly commanded her not to make him angry. He was known for having a volatile temper and he did not like to be talked down to by a woman. Kagome took this in with a frown, wondering when Toga would change into the lovable father figure that she knew.

As they neared the estate, Kagome felt Sesshomaru stiffen and could tell he was mentally preparing himself for the worst. She kissed the stripes on his face, knowing he loved it, and told him everything would work out fine. He knew she was correct, because she was from the future and obviously Toga loved her in the future.

Upon their arrival, servants and guards were dashing about and Toga's general came to greet them at the entrance. He gestured for them to follow and Kagome tried to look meek. Sesshomaru nearly laughed at her, she was failing miserably. They were shown into where the court gathered. His father sat on the throne at the head of the room. Sesshomaru noted with irritation that many of the court were present. He'd have to do something about that.

As they neared his father, Kagome's aura whipped around them both. He turned to look at her and saw she was glaring around at the demons of the court suspiciously. They were glaring back with narrowed eyes and some of them were even growling. Kagome let her aura spread toward them slowly. Some of them blinked and backed away, while others growled louder.

Kagome was startled out of her glaring match by Toga's husky laugh, "What do we have here?"

Sesshomaru regarded his father with respect, "Could we have some privacy?"

Toga's brows raised in surprise, "Absolutely. Leave us."

The demons of the court all rose and walked out, but Kagome heard many of them gossiping about who she could be and why she was with Sesshomaru. Kagome noticed that two women remained. One was human and gorgeous and the other was a stunning inu demoness. She looked so similar to Sesshomaru that she knew immediately she was his mother. Kagome studied her carefully. It was obvious the woman didn't like her. She was practically sneering at her. The dark haired woman was watching her carefully, with a smile on her face. Kagome liked her instantly.

"So, what did you want to discuss?" Toga's voice sounded different to Kagome. It wasn't as weathered and it was more cold then she'd ever heard it.

"This is Kagome. She is going to be my mate. Your permission is not required. I just thought to inform you of my decision, as you are still my alpha and king."

Kagome thought that Sesshomaru was being a bit to aggressive with his father, until she saw Toga's face. His face was rife with fury and she could see that he was close to losing his temper. The woman looked pleased but the demoness looked partially sick but mostly murderous over this announcement.

Toga sputtered angrily, "Absolutely not. She is a human! I will not see it done. Make her your mistress. Do the right thing. Mate a demoness and make this, this child, your mistress."

Sesshomaru was immediately angry at the idea and took a step forward, determined to make it clear that Kagome would be his mate. Before he got the words out, Kagome exploded. The scene reminded him of the one with Inuyasha.

"Mistress? Did you say MISTRESS Toga? Are you out of your damn mind! I have far more worth then that you ignorant dog!" Sesshomaru stiffened at the insult. He knew his father well enough to know that Kagome was treading into dangerous territory. He noticed that her aura was whirling around her angrily and that her aura had flecks of crimson. He was about to silence her, but, like an idiot, she continued.

"Him, marry a demoness?" She broke into hysterical laughter. She was laughing in the inu kings face. "He'd be bored to tears and none of those bitches can hold a candle to me or my power you, you ass! And I will be no ones bitch!"

Toga's face had gone from murderous, to surprised, to highly amused. Sesshomaru was baffled at his fathers reaction. What he hadn't been prepared for, was his mother's reaction. She absolutely lost it. She began snarling and cursing and she walked toward Kagome with venom in her gaze.

"You dare insinuate that you are more powerful then me, then my people? You ignorant child! I will not tolerate this!"

"Yeah, I do dare to. You think you are more powerful then me? I doubt it. How about this, if you can make me submit with your yoki, then I will not mate your son. If I win, you will back off, and mind your own damn business and let me mate your son without one complaint."

Sesshomaru's mother looked between the two of them, then to Toga, who looked highly interested in the drama before him. Sesshomaru was more then a little concerned about Kagome getting out of this fully intact. She had grown in strength, but he wasn't sure if she was capable of winning. He knew, though, that they would both benefit immensely if she did win. His mother would have endless respect for Kagome and Toga would probably consent to the match immediately. Sesshomaru nodded at them both at the same time Toga did. The two men backed away and the women squared up to each other.

InuKimi, Sesshomaru's mother, had an evil smile on her face and Kagome had a smile that would terrify any demon he knew, with the obvious exception of him, his mother, and his father. He watched closely as InuKimi began to let her yoki flow around her. Kagome began to take deep breaths, like Kaede had taught her, and she began to pull her reiki into herself. InuKimi took this as a sign of weakness and began to push her yoki out faster and harder. Kagome smiled sweetly, causing InuKimi to falter, and in lightning speed Kagome funneled about 50% of her reiki out and toward the demoness with a flash of blinding magenta light. It wasn't enough to kill her, but hopefully enough to knock her on her ass. Kagome blinked once the light had cleared, to find InuKimi sitting on the ground twenty feet away and panting. She had literally been thrown back on her ass. Kagome whooped with excitement and went to Sesshomaru's mother with her hand outstretched.

"My Lady, it was a pleasure. I'm Kagome and I am going to be your sons mate."

Sesshomaru, Toga, and InuKimi all blinked at her repeatedly. Sesshomaru was filled with pride and Toga was astonished. InuKimi knew immediately that this woman would do well with her son. He needed someone to keep him in line, and he needed a woman that could protect herself and wasn't afraid of anyone.

Toga burst out laughing and InuKimi reached out to take Kagome's hand. Kagome helped her up and bowed to the woman.

"I like you, Kagome. I think I will allow you to be with my son."

Kagome smiled brilliantly at her and turned as she heard Toga approach them. Sesshomaru was by her side in a flash and he was throwing a suspicious gaze at his father. Toga walked up to her and grabbed her hand. He lifted it to his mouth and kissed it gently.

"Yes, Kagome. I think we will keep you", Toga said with a genuine smile.

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Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter coming soon.


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